gress to be held in London in May next, in connection with the great International Horticultural Exhibition, and will deliver an opening address on the mutual relationship of gardening and botany, and the practical results wrought by them. The Congress department has been placed under the care of Dr. Seemann, to whom all communications relating to it should be addressed.-Reader, Dec. 9th, 1865.

7. National Academy of Science.-The next session of the National Academy of Sciences will open at Washington on the 24th of January. 8. Origin of lake-depressions.-This subject receives some important. illustrations, accompanied with criticisms upon the glacial theory of Prof. Ramsay, in an article by Prof. J. P. Lesley, in volume ix of the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, at page 190.

9. The Proceedings of the recent meeting of the British Association at Birmingham.-The best abstracts that have been published of the papers read at the recent meeting of the British Association are contained in the London weekly periodicals, The Reader, numbers 142 to 150 inclusive (Sept. 9 to Nov. 11), and the Athenæum, numbers 1976 to 1981 (Sept. 9, to Oct. 14).

10. First Annual Catalogue of the Officers and Students, and Programme of the Course of Instruction, of the School of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1865-6. 40 pp. 8vo. Boston, 1865.-This first Annual Catalogue gives assurance that the Institute of Technology, established at Boston by the State of Massachusetts, under the direction of Prof. Wm. B. Rogers, is in full and successful operation. The course of instruction as here presented is excellent. The corps of Professors is one of great scientific strength, it consisting of Wm. B. ROGERS, President, besides Professor in Physics and Geology; JOHN D. RUNKLE, Professor in Mathematics and Analytic Mechanics; FRANK H. STORER, in General and Industrial Chemistry; CHARLES W. ELIOT, in Analytical Chemistry and Metallurgy; WM. P. ATKINSON, in the English Language and Literature; JOHN B. HENCK, in Engineering; W. WATSON, in Descriptive Geometry and Mechanical Engineering; WM. R. WARE, in Architecture; JAMES D. HAGUE, in Mining Engineering; F. BÖCKER, in Modern Languages.

11. Cabinet of Minerals for sale.-Dr. F. A. Genth, of Philadelphia offers for sale his fine cabinet of rocks and minerals, rich in both foreign and American specimens. It also includes a collection of fossils.

OBITUARY.

Dr. J. L. RIDDELL.-A committee, consisting of Rufus Staples and James S. Knapp, appointed by the New Orleans Academy of Sciences, on the 16th day of October, 1865, for the purpose of drafting some resolutions expressive of the sense of that body on the death of Prof. J. L. Riddell, together with a sketch of his life, made a report, the larger part of which we here republish.

DR. JOHN LEONARD RIDDELL was born in Leyden, Mass., on the 20th day of February, 1807, and died in New Orleans on the 7th day of October, 1865. He was honorably descended from an ancient Scotch-Irish family. In the fall of the year 1807, he was taken by his parents to Preston, Chenango county, New York, where his boyhood was spent on his father's farm. He attended the Oxford Academy during portions of

the years 1826 and 1827, and afterward the Rensselaer School of Troy, N. Y., where he obtained the degree of A.B., and subsequently of A.M.

For several years, commencing in 1830, he gave lectures on chemistry, botany and geology in various places in the United States and in Canada. In 1835 he was appointed Adjunct Professor of Chemistry, and Prof. of Botany in the Cincinnati Medical College, where he received the degree of M.D.

In 1836 he was appointed Prof. of Chemistry in the Medical College of Louisiana, at New Orleans; at present the Medical Department of the University of Louisiana, now under the patronage of the State, which chair he retained, and filled with great credit till his death. In 1838 he was appointed "Melter and Refiner" in the Branch Mint, an office he held till 1849.

His contributions to science have been of a varied nature. In 1835 at Cincinnati, O., he published a catalogue of plants, entitled "A Synopsis of the Flora of the Western States," including 1800 different species, the earliest work of any importance specially devoted to the Botany of the West. Subsequently he published a catalogue of the plants of Louisana comprising some 2300 species. In the Western States, in Louisiana and in Texas, he was the discoverer of numerous new species of plants. His name is indelibly impressed on the science in the genus Riddellia," named from him. He prepared the materials for the publication of a work on the botany of the Southern part of the United States, and leaves a very large and well arranged Herbarium.

66

In 1845, he published a "Monograph of the Dollar," with fac-simile impressions of between five and six hundred varieties of American and Mexican dollars and half dollars, both genuine and counterfeit, with the assays of each.

In 1836 his thesis on "Miasm and Contagion" was published in Cincinnati, and republished in Boston, in which he advocated the theory that organized and living corpuscles of various kinds" were the agents of communication in contagious diseases; and in this he was one of the earliest to adopt that theory which seems now to be so rapidly gaining adherents.

For many years preceding his death, Doctor Riddell had directed great energy and attention to microscopic observations, examining minutely the animalculæ and algæ found in the swamp waters in the vicinity of New Orleans, of many of which he made drawings. His researches in this department of science, as well as botany, are well known and appreciated on both sides of the Atlantic. He invented a Binocular Microscope which gave the student in microscopy an advantage never before enjoyed.

As a lecturer on chemistry in the University of Louisiana, he was remarkable for perspicuity of style and diction. He enjoyed the highest esteem of the students, among whom he was extremely popular. Unlike many men of learning, his attainments formed no barrier to a personal approach by the unlettered; nor did they prevent him from kindly and constantly aiding others, nor from giving that attention to business affairs in which he was eminently successful, and by which he accumulated and left to his family a large and productive property.

In the New Orleans Academy of Sciences, of which he was one of the founders, he acted most efficiently as President nearly all of the time from its formation. Among the varied subjects under discussion, his uncommonly retentive memory, his accurate and general information, and his happy faculty of imparting knowledge enabled him to cast light on almost any subject under consideration. Their thanks are especially due to him for the preservation of the domicile of the Academy from occupation by the military, and its property from pillage and waste during the perilous times of civil war.

VII. MISCELLANEOUS BIBLIOGRAPHY.

1. Photographic Mosaics; edited by M. CAREY LEA and EDWARD L. WILSON, Editor of Philadelphia Photographer. 144 pp. 12mo. Philadelphia, 1866 (Benerman & Wilson).-A valuable work for photographers, adepts as well as learners, consisting of selections from various recent works and memoirs on photography on numerous topics of practical value in the art.

2. Smithsonian Report for 1864.-The following are the contents of the Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, including its appendix for 1864.-Report of the Regents, including Report of the Secretary, Prof. HENRY, etc., pages 1-114.-p. 125, Memoir of Delambre; JOSEPH FOURIER.-P. 135, Essay on the Velocity of Light; M. DELAUNAY.-p. 166, Ozone and Antozone; CHARLES M. WETHERILL, Ph.D., M.D.178, Vegetation and the Atmosphere; J. JAMIN.-p. 191, Extract of a Memoir on the Preservation of Copper and Iron in Salt Water; M. BECQUEREL.-P. 196, Preservation of Wood.-p. 206, Caoutchouc and Gutta Percha.-p. 221, The Products of the Combustion of Gun Cotton and Gunpowder under circumstances analogous to those which occur in practice; Lieut. VON KAROLYI. p. 235, Description of Apparatus for testing the results of Perspiration and Respiration in the Physiological Institute at Munich; Prof. MAX PETTENKOFER.-P. 240, The Solar Eclipse of July 18, 1860; Dr. J. LAMONT.-p. 261, Report on the Transactions. of the Society of Physics and Natural History of Geneva, 1861; Rev. M. DUBY, President. p. 282, On the Crania Helvetica; FREDERICK TROYON.-P. 285, Experimental and Theoretical Researches on the Figures of Equilibrium of a liquid mass withdrawn from the action of Gravity, &c., Prof. J. PLATEAU. p. 370, Artificial Shell-deposits in New Jersey; CHARLES RAU.-p. 375, The Intermixture of Races; GEORGE GIBBS. p. 378, An account of the aboriginal inhabitants of the California Peninsula; JACOB BAEGERT.-P. 400, The first steps in the study of High Antiquity in Europe; A. MORLOT. p. 412, Scientific Expedition to Mexico. A Report addressed to the Emperor by the Minister of Public Instruction.-p. 416, A Journey to the Youcan, Russian America; W. W. KIRBY.-p. 421, Exploration in Upper California in 1860 under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution; JOHN FEILNER, U. S. A. p. 431, Journal of an Exploration of Western Missouri in 1854, under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution; P. R. Hor, M.D.—p. 439, Tables of Weights and Measures.

3. Aus Sahara und Atlas, vier Briefe au J. Liebig von E. DESOR. 72 pages 8vo, with several tables. Wiesbaden, 1865 (C. W. Kreidel).— The four letters here contained give an account of the interesting excur

sion made by Mr. Desor in the region of the Sahara desert. We have already given some account of the explorations in volume xxxvii, at pages 146 and 445, 1864.

Astronomical and Meteorological observations made at the U. S. Naval Observatory during the year 1863. Captain J. M. GILLISS, U. S. N., Superintendent. 494 pp. 4to. Washington, 1865. Published by authority from the Hon. Secretary of the Navy.

The Cooling Globe, or the Mechanics of Geology; by C. F. WINSLOW, M.D. 64 pp. 8vo. Boston, 1865. (Walker, Wise & Co.)

Giornale di Scienze Naturali ed economiche publicato per cura del consiglio di Perfezionamento annesso al R. Istituto Tecnico di Palermo. Volume I, Fascic. i (96 pp.), ii (76 pp.), large 4to, with plates. 1865.

PROC. ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILADELPHIA, No. 3, July and August, 1865.-Page 109, On New Fossils from the Marshall Group of Michigan and its supposed equivalents in other States, etc.; A. Winchell.—p. 134, Amphibamus grandiceps, a new Batrachian from the Coal Measures; E. D. Cope.—On the genus Taxocrinus of McCoy, with descriptions of new species; Meek & Worthen.-p. 143, New Crinoids from Illinois; Meek & Worthen.-p. 166, Note on the genus Gilbertsocrinus of Phillips; F. B. Meek. p. 168, On a whale caught in the river Delaware; E. D. Cope.-p. 169, On some Conirostral Birds from Costa Rica; J. Cassin.-p. 172, New Polyzonida; H. C. Wood, Jr.-No. 4, September and October, 1865.-p. 173, A new genus of Vespertilionidae; H. Allen.-p. 177, A new generic type of Sharks; T. Gill.p. 178, Note on a species of hunch-backed Whale: E. D. Cope.-p. 184, Obs. on American fossils, with descriptions of two new species; T. A. Conrad.-p. 185, Contrib. to the Herpetology of tropical America: E. D. Cope.—p. 198, Contrib. to a knowledge of the Delphinidae; E. D. Cope.-p. 204, Species of Galeruca and allied genera inhabiting N. America; J. L. LeConte.-p. 222, Monograph of the Anobiina of N. America; J. L. LeConte.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMER. PHIL. SOC. PHILAD. Vol. xiii. Part 11, 1865. Art. vII. On the Myriapoda of N. America; H. C. Wood.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMER. PHIL. SOC. PHILAD., Vol. x, No. 74. 1865. Page 151, On Magnetic Polarity; P. E. Chase. p. 170, Naturalization of exotic plants; T. C. Porter-p. 171, Obituary of Dr. C. W. Short; Gross. p. 187, Record of Oil-well borings; J. P. Lesley.

PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOG. SOC., PHILADELPHIA, Vol. v, No. 1. July-Sept., 1865. Page 1, Revision of the hitherto known species of the genus Chionobas in N. America; S. H. Scudder.-p. 28, New species of Pselaphida; E. Brendel.-p. 33, Note on Cuban Sphingidæ; A. R. Grote.-p. 85, Monograph of the Philanthidæ of N. A.; E. T. Cresson.-p. 133, N. A. Micro-Lepidoptera; B. Clemens.-p. 148, A new species of Limenitis; W. H. Edwards.

PROCEEDINGS BOST. Soc. NAT. HIST., Vol. x. Jan. 1864.-page 1, Death of Dr. Wheatland-p. 2, Obituary notice of F. Alger; C. T. Jackson.-p. 6, On Wardian cases; W. T. Brigham.-p. 11, Habits and geographical distrib. of the common lobster; N. E. Atwood.-p. 13, Deep sea Atlantic soundings; C. Stodder.—p. 14, Habits of a species of Pteropod; A. Agassiz.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ESSEX INSTITUTE, Vol. iv, No. vi. April, May, June, 1865.p. 161, Conclusion of Notes on the Duck Hawk; J. A. Allen.-p. 162, A classification of Mollusca, based on the principle of Cephalization, with a plate; E. S. Morse. PROCEEDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS OF THE NOVA SCOTIAN INSTITUTE OF NATURAL SCIENCE OF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, Vol. ii. Part III. 1864-5-p. 8, Mammalia of N. Scotia; J. B. Gilpin.-p. 15, Provincial acclimatization; C. Hardy-p. 30, Calluna vulgaris on C. Breton Id.; G. Lawson.-p. 35, on Lemania variegata; id.-p. 38, Land-birds of N. S.; A. Downs.-p. 51, Obs, on the sea-birds of St. Margaret's Bay, N. S.; J. Ambrose.-p. 70, Production of lakes by ice-action; T. Belt.-p. 71, On brine-springs of N. S.; H. How.—p. 80, Enquiry into the Antiquity of Man; W. Gossip-p. 102, Weather at Halifax, N. S., during 1864; Myers.-p. 107, On the Gaspereaux; J. B. Gilpin.-p. 114, Reptilia of N. S.; J. M. Jones. p. 128, On the economic mineralogy of N. S. Part 11, Ores of Manganese and their uses; H. How. -p. 139, Meteorological register; Myers.-p. 140, Currents on the N. E. Coast of America; A. Milne-p. 142, Contorted quartz at Laidlaw's " Diggins," Waverly.— p. 145, Mummy of the Great Auk from Funk Island.

THE

AMERICAN

JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND ARTS.

[SECOND SERIES.]

ART. XVI.-Notice of an Account of Geological Observations in China, Japan and Mongolia; by RAPHAEL PUMPelly.

[Read before the National Academy of Sciences,' Aug. 26th, 1865.]

IN the present brief notice, I propose to call attention to some of the principal conclusions to which I have been led by geolog ical observations made during journeys in China and Mongolia. In a longer memoir I hope to give in detail the grounds on which these conclusions are based. The range of travel was as follows: In the summer of 1863, from Shanghai to Hunan and the boundary between Hupeh and Sz'chuen,

In the autumn and winter of 1863 and 1861 and during the following spring, from Peking through the mountains of western Chilli; and from Peking to beyond the Great Wall of China and westward on the plateau, following its southern edge to about the 112th meridian, E. of Greenwich, returning by a route south of the Great Wall.

In the winter of 1864 and 1865, from Peking across the plateau of Central Asia, via Kalgan and Urga, and Kiachta in Siberia. The almost total absence of previous observations of a geological character, through this wide field, the comparatively small amount of surface seen in the above journeys, and the great difficulties that a single observer has to contend with, owing to the jealousy of the inhabitants in the center of China, and the extreme cold of a winter journey over the table land, restricted my range of observation, and permit me to give in the paper I am

The work to which this brief notice calls attention, and which the National Academy has kindly volunteered to publish in its memoirs, contains also an itinerary of geological observations in Japan, and will be accompanied by a considerable number of maps, sections and illustrations.

AM. JOUR. SCI.-SECOND SERIES, VOL. XLI, No. 122.-MARCH, 1866.