Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 34.djvu/290

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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Soils: their Origin, Composition, and Characteristics. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Pp. 239.

Shepherd, Henry A. Antiquities of the State of Ohio. Cincinnati: John C. Yorston &, Co. Pp. 139.

Shuffeldt, R. W., M.D. Observations upon the Morphology of Gallus Bankiana. Pp. 34.

Starr, Louis, M. D. Hygiene of the Nursery. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 212. $1.50.

Tuckerman. Frederick, Amherst, Mass. Two Papers on Tænia Saginata. Pp. 2 each—The Anatomy of the Papilla Foliata of the Human Infant. Pp. 3. with Plates.—Observations on the Structure of the Gustatory Organs of the Bat. Boston: Ginn & Co. Pp. 6. with Plates.

Watts, Charles A. The Agnostic Annual for 1889. London: W. Stewart & Co. Pp. 48.

Wells, David A. Relation of the Tariff to Wages. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 45.

Whelpley, H. M. Chemical Lecture. Notes from C. O. Curtman's Lectures. St. Louis. Pp. 211.

Whitlock, L. L.. Editor. "The Soul." Monthly. Facts Publishing Company. Boston. $1.50 a year.

Williams College, Hopkins Observatory. Commemoration of the Fiftieth Anniversary. Pp. 82.

Winlock, William C. Bibliography of Astronomy for the Year 1887. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. Pp. 64.



POPULAR MISCELLANY.

The International Geological Congress.—The fourth session of the International Geological Congress was held in London, beginning September 16th, under the presidency of Prof. Prestwich. The United States was represented in the list of vice-presidents by Prof. Frazer, of Philadelphia. The meeting was the largest in attendance, both of home and foreign geologists, that has been held. It differed from the previous meetings in the point that no votes were taken bearing upon the subjects under discussion; but a report was adopted recommending that in future the members from the country in which the Congress meets shall vote separately from the foreign geologists: if the two groups agree, the question to be considered settled; if not, deferred; and that votes should not be taken on questions that are purely theoretical. The classification of the Cambrian and Silurian strata was fully discussed, and the questions of the nature and origin of the crystalline schists, and of the upper limit of the Tertiary system, were considered in some detail. To the second discussion essays were contributed by five officers of the United States Geological Survey, with an introduction by Major Powell, and by Mr. Lawson, of Canada. The committee on nomenclature and classification has obtained reports from the committees of the different countries, embodying their views on the subject. It now remains to discuss these. Another commission was appointed under the new aspect of the subject, on which Prof . Hall represents the United States. Four or five sheets of the geological map of Europe, relating to central Europe, will be ready for publication within the next two years, and will be given out at once, each with its own title and index, without waiting for the completion of the whole. The Congress decided to hold its fifth meeting, in 1891, in Philadelphia; and Messrs. J. Hall, Dana, Newberry, Frazer, Gilbert, Hunt, Marsh, and Walcott were appointed the committee of arrangements.

Interglacial Man in Ohio.—Until recently it has been a question whether "interglacial" man existed in the Mississippi Valley. Dr. Abbott had even made the suggestion that this race may have lived only in the neighborhood of the sea-coast, and had not spread so far as even to the eastern slope of the Alleghanies. Flint implements paleolithic in character were found in abundance—the work of Indians—but none that could be proved to be of palæolithic age. Some three years ago, however, genuine palæolithic flints were found by Dr. Metz at Madisonville and Loveland, Ohio. The sites of these discoveries have been carefully examined by the Rev. G. F. Wright, who, taking the whole configuration and geological character of the region, with its peculiar formations, into account, pronounces the beds to be unquestionably virgin glacial deposits, in situations where there can have been no subsequent deposition. The discoveries, therefore, show that in Ohio, as well as on the Atlantic coast, man was an inhabitant before the close of the glacial period. A discovery of implements of quartz, situated likewise in gravels and sands that could only be glacial, made by Miss Babbitt at Little Falls, Minn., is confirmed by the researches of Mr. Warren Upham.

Our Indians and the Mongolians.—Dr. Brinton, in a paper read at the American Association, maintained that the resemblances alleged by various writers to exist in language, culture, and physical appearance between American Indians and Mongolians are not supported by recent researches. The