342 
Personal and Scientific News . 
In 1884 Dr. Lewis E. Hicks was appointed to the chair of 
geology and allied sciences. Under his administration the 
work of instruction has been systematized, the collections 
largely increased, a preliminary geological map of Nebraska 
made and published, and the regents have been induced to 
provide more commodious rooms for lectures, laboratories 
and cabinets for the storage and display of the collections of 
this department. These rooms are situated on the second 
floor of Nebraska Hall, floor plan and elevation of which are 
presented herewith. An inspection of the floor plan will give 
a better notion of these rooms than verbal description. The 
museum has a gallery floor which nearly doubles its capacity. 
All the rooms are well lighted. They will be ready for occu¬ 
pation in a few weeks. The geological laboratory is supplied 
with a machine for cutting and grinding thin sections of min¬ 
erals and rocks, a Bausch and Lomb petrographical microscope, 
tourmaline tongs, Queen’s polariscope with stauroscopic 
attachment, and to these will be immediately added one of the 
best petrographical microscopes of German or French manu¬ 
facture. 
The Stillwater, Minn., deep well. At a late meeting of 
the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences Mr. A. D. Meads, 
of the Minnesota geological survey, read a description of this 
well. It was begun in June, 1888, and the work has continued 
with little interruption, up to the present time, when the 
depth has reached about 3,400 feet. Gas, probably local accu¬ 
mulations of marsh gas along the shore of lake St. Croix, led 
to the drilling, but a spirit of laudable curiosity to know what 
is below the city, on the part of several of the citizens who 
pay the costs, has taken the place largely of all expectations 
of finding gas, and is now the principal motive for continuing 
the work. 
The well starts at about 740 feet above the sea, and after 
passing through 701 feet of drift, white, friable sandstone and 
green shales, belonging to the St. Croix and so-called Potsdam 
of the Northwest, enters a series of dark-red and brown shales 
and brown feldspathic sandstones, which exhibited a thickness 
of more than 1500 feet. These gradually assume the characters 
of a volcanic detrital tuff—“amygdaloidal,” calcitic, kaolinic, 
still brown, slightly siliceous—and finally at the depth of 
about 3300 feet unmistakable beds of trap rock were encount¬ 
ered, alternating with sandstone beds. At this depth some 
grains of native copper were seen in the drillings. 
Water was found in the sandstones near the top of the drill, 
and down to the depth of about 740 feet. Small quantities of 
salt water were obtained at about 1950 feet, and at the depth 
of 2250 feet a small amount of gas was said to have been 
noted in connection with another stratum giving brine. 
Mr. Meads’ main conclusions were as follows. (1) The 
