green twigs employed in the ordinary method by exposing the whole to the different rays, it is seen that the greatest assimilation takes place in the orange rays, or those of medium refrangibility, it is impossible to detect any relation between the absorption bands and the amount of oxygen given off. Hence, with all the objections which may be urged against it, Engelmann's method places in our hands the means for estimating the effects in a strictly localized part of the field. When, therefore, the method is applied to the different parts of a variegated or colored leaf, we may reasonably expect to determine the difference in the efficiency of the rays belonging to the different parts of the spectrum. It is fair to say that the present paper appears to strengthen the position originally assumed by Engelmann in the questions to which his methods and conclusions have given rise. He has given also some useful hints as to the employment of his method which obviate a few of the objections formerly raised against it. G. L. G. (3) Hough's American Woods. Part I; by ROMEYN B. HOUGH, Lowville, N. Y.-This work consists of transverse, radial, and tangential sections of twenty-five species of our North American woods, having a thickness of perhaps one-hundredth of an inch or in some cases a good deal less, and measuring two inches by a little more than four. A few of the specimens are somewhat thicker than this, but they are all sufficiently thin to reveal the structure of the wood. The sets are furnished at the low price of five dollars for the twenty-five species, and some of the species are represented by more than one series of sections. These sets remind one of the beautiful preparations made for schools by Mr. Spurr, under the direction of Mr. Henry Brooks of Boston, but they do not possess as those did, the advantage of protection by thin plates of mica, which rendered the latter of great service in botanical classes. Mr. Hough's specimens are equally beautiful, but in their unprotected condition one would hardly like to trust them in the hands of ordinary students. It is to be sincerely hoped that Mr. Hough will be encouraged to continue his interesting and useful work. The sections are accompanied by a short account of the elements of botany, together with the more important facts relative to woods, and the whole treatise is followed by a specific statement regarding all the plants used in the illustrations. G. L. G. Journal of the Trenton Natural History Society.-The number of this Journal for January, 1888 (No. 3), contains a paper by Dr. A. C. Stokes on Fresh-water Infusoria, and one by W. A. Stowell on the Flora of Bergen Co., N. J. Bulletin of the Natural History Society of New Brunswick, No. VII, published at St. John, New Brunswick, contains a review of the Echinodermata of New Brunswick, by Mr. W. F. Ganong. Miscellaneous Intelligence. OBITUARY. 161 AMOS H. WORTHEN, the distinguished geologist of Illinois, died on the sixth of May last, in his 75th year, leaving behind him, in the volumes of the Illinois Geological Survey, a lasting monument to his memory. * Mr. Worthen was born October 31, 1813, at Bradford, Orange County, Vermont, being next to the youngest of the thirteen children of Thomas Worthen and Susannah Adams. His mother was a descendant of the Adamses of colonial times. In August, 1834, he went with his young wife —having married in the January preceding Miss Sarah B. Kimball, of Warren, New Hampshire-to Harrison County, Kentucky, and there for a year or two taught school. In June, 1836, he moved to Warsaw, Illinois, which was his home until his death, with the chief exception of two years between 1842 and 1844 spent in Boston on account of Mormon troubles in Illinois. While engaged in commercial business, he became interested in the science of geology, and made large collections of fossils and also of the remarkable geodes of the Keokuk limestone in the region. On the institution of the Geological Survey of Illinois in 1851, under Prof. J. G. Norwood, he was selected as his assistant, and continued his labors in this position until 1855; but little was published as results of the survey owing to the inadequate appropriations by the State. From 1855 to 1857 he was assistant under Professors James Hall and J. D. Whitney in the Geological Survey of Iowa; and the large volume published in 1858 owes very much of its value and interest, says the Report, "to the labors of Mr. Worthen in the field, and for the loan of his magnificent collection of Carboniferous Crinoids, as well as of other fossils.” "But for this liberality, the work would have been far less fully illustrated. Such collections can only be accumulated by the devoted attention of many years; and in expressing my own indebtedness to Mr. Worthen, I may express the obligations under which geology rests for this contribution, and which will be gladly acknowledged by every student and votary of science." The many beautiful plates of the large volume are from drawings by Mr. F. B. Meek, who was afterward associated with Mr. Worthen in the paleontology of his own reports. This Iowa Report with its many plates of wonderful Crinoids should bring to mind the name of Worthen. In March of 1858, Mr. Worthen took charge, by State appointment, of the Geological Survey of Illinois. The survey was carried on until 1872. After this date, he continued the study and care of the collections, with the title of Curator of the Illinois State Museum, completing and issuing from time to time the large and copiously illustrated volumes of his Report. Already in 1860, advance results of his work, in connection with Mr. Meek, appeared in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences * For many of the particulars with regard to the life of Mr, Worthen we are indebted to Prof. T. B. Comstock. of Philadelphia; one in September, describing 29 new species of Crinoids, and another in October, describing 69 new species of mollusks and other fossils; and these were followed by others of similar character. The first and second volumes of his Geological Report made their appearance, in Royal Octavo, in 1866, the first, largely stratigraphical, the second, mainly paleontological. The latter contained descriptions and figures of 118 species of fossil fishes (by Newberry and Worthen), 156 of invertebrates, including Crinoids, etc. (by Meek and Worthen), and 50 of coal plants (by Mr. Lesquereux). These volumes were followed two years later by the third; and others slowly appeared, the seventh with 26 plates devoted to fossil fishes and others to Crinoids, etc., in 1883. Together the series is unsurpassed in importance by any of those of the other States, especially in the departments of Crinoids, Articulates, and Subcarboniferous Fishes. Mr. Worthen left an eighth volume in the press. Besides these volumes of reports Mr. Worthen issued a large colored Geological Map of Illinois; published three volumes on the Economical Geology of the State compiled from his Geological Reports, and was the means of gathering for the State Museum one of the largest collections of fossils in the country. In the early part of the survey Mr. Worthen encountered and overcame great opposition. His modesty and earnestness, high character and quiet dignity gave him great influence, and the many difficulties disappeared before him. Although nearly seventy-five years old at his death he had not given up work; the preparation of the text and plates illustrating the descriptions of the Silurian invertebrate fossils of Illinois, for the eighth volume, was occupying him, when a sudden attack of pneumonia brought all to an end. The Governor of the State, Governor Oglesby, in a telegram to the family, most fittingly said: "In his death the State loses a useful private citizen, a faithful public officer, and an ardent and laborious friend of Science.' Of the seven children of Professor Worthen, the only daughter died in infancy. His six sons are still living. The name of one, Charles K. Worthen, appears as the draftsman on many of the plates in the later volumes of his father's reports. Professor Worthen's wife died a year before him, on the 13th of January, 1887. J. D. D. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE [THIRD SERIES.] ART. XVI.-Cambrian Fossils from Mount Stephens, Northwest Territory of Canada; by CHARLES D. WALCOTT.* THE announcement of the discovery by Mr. Otto J. Klotz of a group of Cambrian fossils at Mt. Stephens, near the line of the Canadian Pacific railway, and a description of some of the species by Dr. C. Rominger, appeared in July, 1887.+ Dr. Rominger describes one new genus of the Trilobita, Embolimus, and five new species, and also mentions two other species of trilobites, several brachiopods, a species of Hyolithes and what he thinks may be a graptolite. There is no attempt made to give the stratigraphic position of the fauna in the Cambrian system, by comparison with published sections and descriptions, or to compare the species with similar forms that have been described from the Cambrian strata of the Rocky Mountains. He states that it was his intention to visit the locality, and, if he has done so, we may receive more information in relation to the occurrence of the fauna there. Mr. Klotz presented to the U. S. Geological Survey a small collection of fossils from Mt. Stephens, and, through the kindness of Professor J. F. Whiteaves, Paleontologist of the Geological Survey of Canada, I have before me some very fine specimens, from the same locality, collected by Mr. McConnell. * Read before the Biological Society of Washington, April 7th, 1888. + Descriptions of Primordial Fossils from Mt. Stephens, N. W. Territory of Canada, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., pp. 12-19, Plate I, 1887. AM. JOUR. SCI.-THIRD SERIES, VOL. XXXVI, No. 213.-SEPT., 1888. When comparing this fauna with one collected from the Middle Cambrian Terrane in Central Nevada, I found that several of the species from the widely-separated localities were identical. This result led me to prepare the following notes, which I now present to your consideration. The accompanying section is given to show the position of the Mt. Stephens fauna in the Cambrian system, as observed in the Highland range of Central Nevada, about 125 miles south of Eureka.* 1. Dark reddish brown quartzite, evenly bedded and ripple-marked in some places 2. Bluish-gray limestone. Fossils: Olenellus Gilberti. 3. Buff argillaceous and arenaceous shales, more or less Fossils Annelid trails and fragments of Olenellus in 4. Light-colored gray limestone and bluish-black limestone Fossils: Annelid trails, Cruziana sp. ? 6. Dark bluish black limestone.. 7. Finely laminated buff argillaceous shale. Feet. 350 35 80 16 40 46 80 10. Compact cherty limestone 11. Compact shaly sandstone in massive layers. 12. Hard siliceous gray limestone, almost quartz at base.13. Yellow to buff sandy shale 14. Bluish black limestone 20. (a) Massive-bedded, bluish-gray limestone. Fragments of fossils. (b) Compact gray siliceous limestone, almost quartzite in some places (c) Bluish black, evenly bedded limestone. Strike N. 30° W., dip 10° E. * U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. No. 30, pp. 33, 34, 1886. 40 30 3 73 200 400 6 606 |