Sandstone Rocks of Connecticut River,' by John C. Warren, M. D., President of the Boston Society of Natural History.

Prof. W. B. Rogers, at a meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, June 20, 1855, spoke of the discovery of the fern Clathropteris in the 'Connecticut River Sandstone.'

The use of the name Connecticut River Sandstone as applied to the rocks in question seems to have been universal among the members of the Boston Society of Natural History in the fifties, and it is applied as a matter of course in the index in Vols. V., VI., VII., etc. Mr. T. T. Bouvè also uses the expression prior to 1855.

A sufficient number of citations have now been made to prove the frequent application of the term Connecticut River Sandstone to the Triassic terranes before the proposal of W. C. Redfield in 1856 to apply the designation of Newark to the same. Others could be added. But I will in the next place call attention to the fact that no one had followed Redfield's suggestion till 1889, a period of a third of a century, until Mr. I. C. Russell proposed to revive the name of Newark. Every American geologist by his silence indicated his disapproval of the suggestion. Furthermore, the use of the expression Connecticut had become pronounced. In fact, its use, coupled with the rejection of Newark, is sufficient to establish the usage of the former without any regard to the usage previous to 1856. I will cite a few instances of its use. The catalogue of the Massachusetts State Cabinet in 1859, the Ichnology in 1858, the map of Hampshire county, 1860, and the title of Dr. Deane's book in 1861, belong to this category. H. D. Rogers, in the Geology of Pennsylvania, 1858, prefers the term 'older Mesozoic,' but certainly rejects the use of Newark, as he makes no reference to it, and uses the following expressions: The vegetable fossils in the Connecticut sandstone;' the organic remains in the Connec

ticut red sandstone.' A title, 'Red Sandstones of the Connecticut Valley.' Roswell Field' made a verbal communication on the footmarks of the Connecticut river sandstones' before the Boston Society of Natural History, June 6, 1860. In 1859, at the Springfield meeting of the A. A. A. S., he discusses the ornithichnites of the 'sandstone of the Connecticut valley.' This paper was reprinted the following year in the American Journal of Science.

Prof. O. C. Marsh presents in a section illustrating the occurrence of vertebrate life in America the name of Connecticut river beds which includes all the Atlantic areas. This has been printed with his 1877 address before the A. A. A. S., the third edition of Dana's Manual of Geology, 1880, the monograph on the Dinocerata, 1885, etc.

Prof. Joseph Le Conte in his Elements of Geology, 1878, and later editions describes the eastern Jura-Trias under the head of Connecticut river valley sandstone.

Prof. J. P. Lesley in C 4 of Second Pennsylvania Survey, p. 179, 1883, says, "American geologists now write habitually of the Triassic red sandstone of the Connecticut valley and of North Carolina." Although the Newark area was through Pennsylvania he prefers to select the locality name from either of the other principal areas. There are two references to the want of acceptance of the term Newark. I had the pleasure of attending Prof. J. D. Dana's course of lectures on Geology at Yale College in 1856. I noted that he then mentioned the fact that Mr. Redfield had proposed the name of of Newark for the American Trias. But he has never used the name in any publication, evidently for good reasons. sketch of the Geology of Massachusetts with map in Walling's Official Atlas, 1871, the following is printed, written by myself: "W. C. Redfield proposed the name of Newark sandstones for the group; but besides being inappropriate, it was of later

In a

date than the appellation of Connecticut." This review of the usages of names for the trias shows that the name of Connecticut was distinctly proposed by E. Hitchcock in 1833, and was constantly used by the geologists specially interested in those works before 1856: W. C. Redfield proposed the name of Newark for the terranes in 1856: that instead of accepting the name geologists universally employed the name of Connecticut when using a local designation up to 1889: that in this period there were several unmistakable formal proposals of the use of Connecticut: and that there were in this period allusions to the fact that the name of Newark was not accepted. Even Mr. Russell, in his learned paper of 1878, used the name of Triassic in preference to Newark.

Mr. Gilbert mentions three 'qualifications of a geographic name for employment in stratigraphy, (1) definite association of the geographic feature with the terrane, (2) freedom of the term from pre-occupation in stratigraphy, (3) priority.' These are acceptable with the addition of a fourth, appropriateness of application. All of these qualifications are possessed by the term Connecticut, while the term Newark cannot satisfy a single one of them.

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE.

C. H. HITCHCOCK.

LENGTH OF VESSELS IN PLANTS.

THE diameter of pitted and other vessels is easily measured upon the cross-section of any stem, but their length is less readily determined. Probably, if the question were put, a majority of botanists would say that they rarely exceed a few inches in length, especially if they still believe with Sachs that the water ascends through the walls of the vessels. As a matter of fact, the spiral and pitted vessels of plants often form open passageways of great length. Some experiments made upon woody stems by Strass

burger (Ueber den Bau u. die Verrichtungen der Leitungsbahnen in den Pflanzen) seem to place this beyond dispute. His method of procedure was to fasten a glass tube to the upper end of a cut stem by a rubber band, insert a funnel into the upper end of the tube, and subject the cut surface to the pressure of a column of mercury kept at a uniform height of twenty centimeters, successively shortening the stem until mercury appeared at the lower end. Using this method, he obtained the following results:

(1.) In a branch of Quercus rubra, 1.5 meters long and about three centimeters thick, mercury ran out of thirty vessels on the lower cut surface almost as soon as it was poured into the funnel. When the branch was shortened to one meter fiftyfour to fifty-six vessels were permeable. In a slender branch of Quercus pedunculata, one meter long, thirty-five vessels dropped mercury, and when this was shortened to one-half meter mercury came out of more than 100 vessels. Another branch five centimeters thick at the base and 3.6 meters long was tried, and drops of mercury fell in quick succession from eight vessels. In Quercus Cerris mercury came through seven vessels of a branch four meters long and six centimeters thick at the base. Shortened to 3.5 meters nine vessels dropped mercury; at three meters, twelve vessels; at 2.5 meters, numerous vessels. Conclusion: Vessels two meters long are quite common in the oaks, and it is probable that single vessels may be as long as the stem itself.

(2.) In Robinia Pseudacacia, a branch two meters long and three centimeters thick was impermeable and first let through mercury when shortened to 1.18 meters. Then it dropped from four vessels. Successively shortened mercury dropped from an increasing number of vessels as follows: One meter, nine vessels; fifty centimeters, thirtyeight vessels; twenty-five centimeters, fiftyseven vessels.

(3.) A stem of Wistaria 1.75 meters long and having seven internodes dropped mercury from seven vessels. Another stem three meters long and containing fortyseven internodes was first killed by heating for an hour in water at 90°, and then dried. This did not let mercury through until it had been shortened to 2.5 meters. Then it dropped pretty fast from four vessels. Reduced to two meters, nine vessels dropped mercury, and out of some it ran rapidly. Another shoot gave nearly the same results. A fresh and very long stem had to be shortened to three meters before mercury came through. Then it dropped from three vessels. Successively shortened, the number of permeable vessels was as follows: 2.5 meters, eleven vessels; two meters, eighteen vessels; 1.5 meter, twenty-seven to twentynine vessels. These stems were one to two centimeters thick. Conclusion: Some of the vessels in Wistaria are quite long, though scarcely more than three meters. Most of the wide vessels are about one meter long.

(4.) A cane of Vitis Labrusca 1.2 centimeter thick, which was previously killed by heating for an hour in water at 90° C. and then air-dried, first let mercury through (3 vessels) when shortened to 2.2 meters.

(5.) A shoot of Aristolochia Sipho 1.5 centimeters thick, 2.5 meters long, and having fifteen internodes was killed in the same way. This let mercury through fourteen vessels. Another shoot 2.1 meters long let the mercury through many vessels. A fresh stem five meters long, the longest he could get, dropped mercury from five vessels. When successively shortened, more and more vessels dropped mercury. At 3.5 meters twenty-five vessels let it through, and when the stem was cut down to three meters the number of vessels dropping mercury could not be determined. Conclusion: In this plant numerous vessels are three meters long, some are five meters long, and a few are probably longer.

In Aristolochia the vessels of different annual rings were equally permeable, but in the wistaria, the locust and the oaks the permeable vessels were mostly on the periphery. The records were made in from ten to thirty minutes from the beginning of the pressure, the time depending on the length of the stem. In general the mercury was passed through the stem in the same direction as the ascending water current, but a change of direction did not give contradictory results. These experiments were repeated, using a pressure of forty centimeters, but even this did not rupture any crosswalls. This increased pressure overcame the capillary resistance and forced the mercury through many smaller vessels, but otherwise the results were much the same. ERWIN F. SMITH.

WASHINGTON.

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

Introduction to Elementary Practical Biology.— By Charles Wright Dodge, M. S.-Harper Bros., New York. 1894.

This book is a laboratory guide for high school and college students. The teacher of biology who is endeavoring to train his students in the best manner is in modern times, amid the abundance of laboratory guides, in very much of a quandary as to the best of two opposite methods. If, on the one hand, he puts a laboratory guide into the hands of the student, the result is apt to be that the student soon learns simply to verify the facts mentioned in the book, and thus loses all stimulus for original observation, which should be the foremost result of practical work in biological science. On the other hand, if the teacher gives to an elementary student a specimen to study without laboratory directions, he is at such complete loss to know how to proceed, what to do, and particularly what points to notice, that a large proportion of his time is wasted through sheer lack of the proper

knowledge of methods. To force a student to invent methods does stimulate indeed observation, but it is a very great waste of time on the part of most students. Between this loss of stimulus to original observation and the loss of time, the instructor is very puzzled how to proceed.

Prof. Dodge of Rochester University in the guide just published has attempted to solve the problem by a new method of direction. The laboratory guide here noticed gives the student some few directions as to methods of dissection and methods of procedure, but beyond this gives him practically no information in regard to his specimens. By a series of skilfully arranged questions it forces the student to make his own observations and to make them in the right direction. Instead of directing the student to observe a certain fact a question is asked which leads him to hunt for a solution, and the result is independent observation. This method of study renders the text book of no value unless the student has the specimen directly in front of him, for there is no possibility of answering these questions in any other way than from the specimen.

The method of teaching here planned is certainly an ideal one and has been quite successfully carried out by Prof. Dodge. It is true that the questions given are sometimes entirely beyond the possibility of the student's solution, and it must also be recognized that this method is one designed to occupy a very great amount of time. Some of the problems which are set before the student will require days for solution, and others have not yet been settled by the observation of scientific investigators. It will therefore take a great amount of time to complete the outline given, for the book is a comprehensive study of biology, including the study of the animal and vegetable cell, on the side of animals, the study of the sponge, hydra, campanularian hydroid, star

fish, earthworm, the lobster, locust, clam, and the frog; and on the side of the vegetable kingdom, green felt, stone work, rock weed, mould, mushrooms, liverworts, ferns and flowering plants. Whether the student in the time allotted to the study of general biology even in our best colleges will be able to complete the list by the method outlined in the guide is doubtful, but there can be little doubt that the method of teaching adopted by Prof. Dodge in this book is an ideal one, and for stimulating observation and at the same time enabling the student to do the most work in the smallest amount of time, there is perhaps no laboratory guide in biology yet published which succeeds as well as the one here noticed.

WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY.

H. W. CONN.

The

Le Grisou [Fire Damp], par H. LE CHATELIER, Ingénieur en Chef des Mines.-Professeur à l'École nationale des Mines.Paris, Gauthier Villars et Fils, 1894. Pp. 187. Broché 2 fr 50, Cartonné 3 fr. The rapid extension of technical scientific knowledge, and the increasing call for specialists in every department, is best shown in the literature of the past few years. discussion of general topics within the limits of a single volume is now possible only in the most elementary works designed for beginners and for the lower classes of our colleges. We have in place of the general text book a rapidly increasing library devoted to special subjects, each presented by specialists in their own field and each treating of some small part of the great sciences formerly considered as a unit. The present volume is of this nature, and, coming from the hand of an engineer of wide reputation, will be of great service to all advanced students of mining whether still within the college confine or employed in the active practice of their profession. 'Fiery' mines are common in our coal fields, and many mines long worked without suspicion of danger, or with

carelessness engendered by delayed casualty, suddenly become the scenes of disaster and great loss of life. M. Le Chatelier has brought together a great mass of facts from many sources and has so presented them as to place them conveniently within reach of all workers in the field. Part I. treats of the nature and production of fire damp, its composition, manner of explosion, its limit of inflammability, and other properties, physical and chemical. Part II. is highly practical and is devoted to the consideration of the immediate cause of accidents, with precautions against the same, the use of safety lamps and of safety explosives, etc. To those desiring a more extended treatment of any of these subjects, or those wishing to consult original papers, the very complete Bibliography which is given at the end of the work will be of great service, particularly as a guide to continental publications. CHARLES PLATT.

PHILADELPHIA.

At the North of Bearcamp Water.—Chronicles of a Stroller in New England from July to December.-By FRANK BOLLES.-Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 16 mo. pp. 297.

nature.

Any one who will go afield in the rain for the purpose of seeing how the wet birch trees look, or who will stay through a stormy night on a mountain top for the sake of the scenery, has certainly a lively interest in The late Frank Bolles had all of this interest and in addition a kindly sympathy with every wandering creature. his last book, At the North of Bearcamp Water, one does not find as many paragraphs suitable for quotations on a daily calendar as would occur in a volume of Thoreau, but his description of a July afternoon when "The air was full of quivering heat and hazy midsummer softness," has all the strength of beauty and truth.

The book particularly describes nature in the vicinity of Chocorua mountain, but there are also chapters on Old Shag, Bear

and other White Mountain peaks. In these accounts of scenery of deer, foxes, birds and trees there is an evident truthfulness, as real as the objects themselves. The mass of detail brought into some of these chapters is surprising, and a frog did not jump across the path without being made to play his part in the account of the day's ramble.

Among the most interesting pages are those devoted to 'A Lonely Link,' and to 'A Night Alone on Chocorua.' Mr. Bolles had his red roofed cottage by the lake and describes the squirrels, muskrats, porcupines, and many birds that were his neighbors. The narrative is peaceful in tone, as restful as a quiet ramble in the woods, and those who wish to be transported in spirit to pleasing natural scenes will do well to accept Mr. Bolles as guide. W. T. DAVIS.

NOTES.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA.

The Botanical Society of America was organized during the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at Brooklyn, N. Y., in August, 1894. The following extracts from the Constitution adopted are of general interest.

"There may be two classes of membersactive and honorary. Only American botanists engaged in research, who have published work of recognized merit, shall be eligible to active membership. Before the 1st of January following his election, each active member shall pay into the treasury of the Society a fee of twenty-five dollars ($25), and thereafter annual dues to the amount of ten dollars ($10), payable before the 1st of January."

"Candidates for active membership shall be recommended by three active members of the Society not members of the Council, who shall certify that the candidate is eligible under the provisions of the Constitution. These nominations shall be placed in