3. On the amount of absorption of water by roots.-M. LECOMTE (Comptes rendus, July 9), makes the following interesting statement regarding Musanga Smithii, an Urticaceous tree, found in French Congo. The tree attains a height of sixty to seventy-five feet, is much branched, and has compound leaves. One of these trees, having a diameter of a foot and a half, was cut down five feet from the ground, and a groove was made to convey the water for collection. The tree was "felled" at five P. M. Jan. 6, 1894, when the atmosphere was saturated with moisture, but when there was no rain falling. At seven in the morning (91) nine and one quarter liters of sap had collected, but it is certain that some was lost during the experiment. Subsequent experiments showed that the amount steadily diminished during the day, thus: 66 66 0.587, 0.360, 1st, from 6 P. M. to 7 A. M. at rate of 0.711, each hour. 2d, from 8 to mid-day, 3d, from noon to 4 P. M The author says that the gorilla is acquainted with this property of the species in question, since he tears the branches off, and quenches his thirst at the wounds he makes. G. L. G. IV. MISCELLANEOUS SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 1. Science. The well-known weekly Journal, SCIENCE, after a brief period of suspension has recommenced as a new series. The first number, issued January 4th, in the interest and variety of its contents speaks well for its future. It is now under the direction of an editorial committee constituted as follows: Mathematics, Prof. S. NEWCOMв; Mechanics, Prof. R. S. WOODWARD; Physics, Prof. T. C. MENDENHALL; Astronomy, Prof. E. C. PICKERING; Chemistry, Prof. IRA REMSEN; Geology, Prof. J. LECONTE; Physiography, Prof. W. M. DAVIS; Paleontology, Prof. O. C. MARSH; Zoology, Prof. W. K. BROOKS, Dr. C. HART MERRIAM; Botany, Prof. N. L. BRITTON; Physiology, Prof. H. P. BOWDITCH; Hygiene, Dr. J. S. BILLINGS; Anthropology, Prof. D. G. BRINTON, Major J. W. POWELL; Psychology, Prof. CATTELL. It is obvious that there is need in the country for a journal in the field which Science occupies and it is to be hoped that it may receive in full the support which it deserves from all interested in the progress of scientific truth. We quote a few sentences from the excellent introductory editorial by Professor Newcomb. "At the present day one of the aspects of American science which most strikes us is the comparative deficiency of the social element. We have indeed numerous local scientific societies, many of which are meeting with marked success. But these bodies cannot supply the want of national coöperation and communication. The field of each is necessarily limited, and its activities confined to its own neighborhood. We need a broader sympathy and easier communication between widely separated men in every part of the country. Our journal aims to supply the want of such a medium, and asks the aid of all concerned in mak ་ ing its efforts successful. . . . At the same time, it is intended that the journal shall be much more than a medium for the popularization of science. Underlying the process of specialization which is so prominent a feature of all the knowledge of our time there is now to be seen a tendency toward unification, a development of principles which connect a constantly increasing number of special branches. The meeting of all students of nature in a single field thus becomes more and more feasible, and in promoting intercourse among all such students SCIENCE hopes to find a field for its energies, in which it may invite the support of all who sympathize with its aim." 2. The Astrophysical Journal: An International Review of Spectroscopy and Astronomical Physics. Volume I, Number 1, 100 pp. January, 1895. Chicago (The University of Chicago Press.) -This Journal, which is essentially a continuation in a new form of Astronomy and Astro-Physics, has for its editors-in chief, George E. Hale, Director of the Yerkes Observatory and James E. Keeler, of the Allegheny Observatory. The assistant editors, are J. S. Ames, Johns Hopkins University, W. W. Campbell, Lick Observatory, Henry Crew, Northwestern University, E. B. Frost, Dartmouth College, F. L. O. Wadsworth, University of Chicago. There are also ten associate editors, leading men in this department of Science, and equally divided between this country and abroad. The first number now issued contains a number of valuable articles by Professors Michelson, Pickering, Rowland and others. The article by Rowland gives a preliminary table of Solar Spectrum wave-lengths from 3722.071 to 3911-444. Minor contributions and notes fill pages 80-87, and reviews with a list of recent publications, pp. 88-99. That this journal will prove a great aid to scientific research in the department of Radiant Energy to which it is devoted is too obvious to require comment. It should be generously supported. The Astrophysical Journal is to be issued monthly (except in July and September) and the annual subscription is four dollars. 3. Cloudland: A study on the structure and characters of Clouds; by REV. W. CLEMENT LEY. 208 pp. 8vo. London, 1894 (Edward Stanford).-This is a popular discussion of the subject of clouds, presented in attractive form and with an abundance of excellent illustrations, including a number of colored plates. It would be difficult to find elsewhere so complete and systematic a description and representation of the different types of clouds and it will doubtless be of material aid to the individual observer. The latter portion of the work discusses the theory of atmospheric currents, prevailing winds, cyclones and anti-cyclones. In the illness of the author, which has prevented the completion of his work, the volume has been edited by Mr. C. H. Ley. OBITUARY. FREDERIK JOHNSTRUP, Professor of Mineralogy at Copenhagen, died in December 1894, at the age of seventy. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE [THIRD SERIES.] ART. XVI.-The Appalachian Type of Folding in the White Mountain Range of Inyo County, California; by CHARLES D. WALCOTT. [Read before Geol. Soc. America, Baltimore meeting, Dec. 27, 1894.] THAT portion of the White Mountain range of California, to the structure of which I wish to call attention, is situated between the road passing from Big Pine, Inyo County, in Owen's valley, through Waucobi Canyon to Saline valley, and the crest of the ridge a little south of White Mountain peak. The length of this portion of the range is about forty miles. South of the Saline valley road the range has received the name of Inyo range, and is so named in all reports upon it. Each observer, however, states that he does not see any reason for applying the two names to the range, as the Inyo portion is the southern prolongation of the White Mountain range. On the latest map* published of this region the entire range from Owen's Lake to the California-Nevada line, is called the White Mountain range. Prof. J. D. Whitneyt makes reference to the Inyo and White Mountain ranges, stating that little is known of their geology, except that, from Bend City for twenty-five miles north, their western base and slopes seem to be composed of slates and other stratified rocks, generally dipping to the southwest and often much contorted. Mr. G. K. Gilbert crossed *Map accompanying the report of Dr. C. Hart Merriam on an expedition to Death Valley, compiled under the direction of A. H. Thompson, 1892. Geol. Surv. California, Geology, vol. i, 1865, p. 459. Expl. and Surv. west of the One Hundredth Meridian, vol. iii, Geol., 1875, pp. 34 and 169. AM. JOUR. SCI.-THIRD SERIES, VOL. XLIX, No. 291.-MARCH, 1895. the range on the line of the present toll-road from Piper's Ranch to Big Pine. A sketch of the section he made shows a broad syneline on the western side, with faulting and folding in the central and eastern portions. He also gives a section of the rocks exposed on the east face of the Inyo range, at the pass between Deep Spring valley and Owen's valley.* Mr. W. A. Goodyear, in his account of Inyo County,† notes the contorted condition of the strata, and also gives one sketch of the folding in the strata on the slope of White Mountain, north of Silver Canyon. During the summer of 1894, accompained by Mr. F. B. Weeks, I crossed the range opposite Big Pine and penetrated into it from the western side, in Waucobi, Black and Silver Canyons, with the special purpose of determining the stratigraphic structure of the western side of the range, after ascertaining that the rocks were of Lower Cambrian age. My first impression, when passing south through Owen's valley and looking at the west face of the range, was that, from a point twenty miles north of Bishop creek to Tollgate Canyon, the range was formed of a monocline of quartzites, argillites and limestone. The first trip into Tollgate Canyon disproved this, and furnished the data for the tentative conclusion that this portion of the range is a syncline of quartzite and limetones, very much broken by local folding and faulting. This conclusion was verified by the sections exposed in the sides of Black and Silver canyons. I shall first describe the succession of strata exposed on the western slope of the range, as the folding and faulting will thus be more readily understood. From the summit downward the section is as follows: 1. Compact, thin-bedded, arenaceous argillite, with layers of dark-brown, fine-grained quartzite.. 2. Alternating beds of limestone and calcareous and 3. Siliceous slate and compact, dark quartzite. 200 ft. 1,000 ft. 2,000 ft. 1,700 ft. The limestone series of 2 and 4 are light-colored and contrast strongly with the dark quartzites, argillites and shales. This brings out the more prominent features of structure in bold relief when viewed from the higher points of the western spurs of the range. *California State Mining Bureau. Eighth Annual Report State Mineralogist for 1888, p. 282. In this connection see article in February number on Lower Cambrian Rocks in Eastern California. Silver Canyon penetrates deep into the range, and about four miles from its mouth cuts across a great synclinal fold. This is outlined in fig. C, page 173. A short distance above the mouth of the canyon the siliceous argillites, with the interbedded layers of quartzite, dip to the eastward about 20°. This dip increases until the beds are in places vertical. Usually at the bed of the canyon there is still a slight eastward dip. As the strata rise on the side of the canyon they become vertical, and finally, about three and one half miles from the mouth, they are overturned to the eastward so as to assume a westward dip and to produce a rough fan structure in the section between the mouth of the canyon and the limestones. The series of argillites and quartzites is broken by minor faults. and closely compressed folds. The synclinal structure is clearly shown by the limestone series. The dip of the western limb of the syncline next to the quartzite is from 70° to 80° west. This increases to about 60° near the center of the syncline. The strata of the eastern limb dip westward at about 60° at a point nearest the center, and from that down to 40° near the quartzite. The section of the syncline exposed on the north side of Silver Canyon is over 2,000 feet in depth, and when viewed from the high ridge on the south side of the canyon, is beautifully exhibited, both in the canyon and in its extension to the northward, along the western face of the range. Frequently the eastern limb of the limestone of the syncline rises to the summit of the range, but as a whole the upper limestone syncline rests against the western side of the range for twenty miles or more north of Silver Canyon. At the mouth of Black Canyon the lower limestone (No. 4) is exposed. It dips eastward and passes beneath the quartzite (No. 3) at an angle of from 25° to 30°. A fault breaks the section along the line of the north fork of Black Canyon, but by following the section northward about two miles and viewing it from the high ridges to the south of Black Canyon, it is seen that the dip of the quartzites above the limestone increases to the vertical, and at the western edge of the syncline formed by the upper limestone the dip is to the westward. The lower limestone, owing to the northward pitch of the syncline, passes beneath the Pleistocene beds on the margin of the valley, before reaching Silver Canyon. In fig. B, I have theoretically restored the synclinal section of the range so as to include the lower limestone. What comes out from beneath the limestone on the eastern side of the range is unknown to me, as I was unable to reach that portion of the section. Viewed from the distance, it is apparently a dark-colored rock, |
