Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1869-08-26

before, Prof. Agassiz presided, and made
many valuable comments upon the pa
pers presented Indeed. the interest Of
the proceedings depended as much upon
suggestive remarks upon each paper
sort of running lscture-as upon the
papers themselves.
sExUALITY OF PLANTS.
The first paper was on the "Laws
which govern the production of the sexes
in Plants" by Thomas Meehan of Ger
mantown, Pa. The substance Of the pa
per was the propounding of theory that
the male blossoms throughout the vegeta-
BILE W rid are produced by the oldest and
most effete branches, while the female
blossoms are brought forth on the young
and vigorous shoots. The author wanted
10 extend this theory TO the animal world
and was inclined TO think the same law
prevailed there which would ultimately
produce another argument TO prove the
natural superiority Of womankind. Pro-
lessor Agassiz thought not.
FOSSILS IN NEBRASKA
A paper was read by Prof o. c. Marsh
of New Haven on "A Remarkable Lo-
cality of Vertebrate Remains in the Ter
ritory of Nebraska" The remains are
the largest collection that have ever been
discovered in "A single ocslity in any part
of the globe. The fossils shown by the
Professor were found by the digging of a
well about ten feet in diameter and six
feet in depth, only a small part of which
were preserved. Still enough had been
seen TO prove the existence of fifteen spe-
cies and eleven genera, distinct from any
thing that has ever been found in this
country. Ii is supposed that the locality
was once covered by a great fresh water
lake, many thousand miles in extent, end
that there. animals went to drink and
were nired upon the shore. A wonder
ful collection of animals IL must have
been. Among the remains were those of
two forms of carniveruu- animals. the
the bones of a rhiDoceros: also the bones
Of four horses, representing three sepd-
rate genera, and these are especially IN
tere-tIng az being the smallest known
specimens of the horse which have ever
been discovered. Bones were also found
Of an animal kin TO those of the hog.
Professor Agrs-iz, III the absence Of his
son, Tho had been assigned 10 speak ION
the HomologIes OF the Palechinia.e,"
gave the synopsis of his sons re-eaiche-
upon this subject.
Prof. johnson Of Maine read a paper
upon the geology of the coast OF NJ ,Ine
and the markings and general character
of the rock- ia that region. This led To
the interesting discussion upon the gla-
cierr Of America.
THE GLACIER PERIOD OF AMERICA.
Prof Agas-iz poke AT some length upon
hi- darling topic 10y the request of the
Section. He showed that the great gia-
cirr- which once covered tie continent
moved in Maine ia direction diagonal
TO the course Of the rivers, over hill and
dale, polishing the bottom of the valley
equally a. much a. the peaks OF the
mountains, aud thus proving that the
thickness Of the glaciers must have been
many times the hight OF the elevations
over which they passed.
Ia reply 10 n question, Prof Agassiz
said that be had entirely discarded the
narrow views broached ia bI- fret work.
He believed that bank Of fifteen thou
sand feet of snow once rested upon the
Northern continent, which ultimately
hardened into glacier.
The last paper read was by Prof. I.
Sterry Hunt. 81 Montreal, ON the ''Morite
or Labr.idorIte Rocks"
The Section adjourned At half-past
five O'Clock.
SECTION \.
Til. section met soon after the ad iourn-
mcnt 81 the general session in the morn
ing III the Granite Court House. Prof.
Norton, of New Haven. was elected tenn
porary chairman for the day. The -es-
sioB- continued throughout the day, and
eleven papers were read and discussed by
the section. The following IL list:
On the Determination Of the Mechani-
cal Equivalent of Heat by means of the [,
modern ice and cooling m4cbines-P. Ii.
Van der Weyde.
On the Classification and Atomic I,
Weights of the so-called Chemical Ele-
ments, with reference to Stars Determine
Hinrichs.
On the Grahamite of West Virginia.
Henry Wurtz.
Studies in Chemical Geogony, in three /
parts Part lon the Prozoic Atmos-
phere and the Ocean of the Ioic Dawn. 4
Part 2-Zoic History from Chemical
View Point Part 3-Cbemical Reyela-
ti"ns OF a Final Zoic CAta-trophe-Henr
Wurz.
On the Composition and Solubility Of
the Acid Oxalate- of Potassium. Ammo
mum and STANDARDIZATION Ripley Mich
OILS.
On the Conservation Of Force-H +. .
Walling.
The Classification OF the Elements Of
Matter -Chas. 4. Seely.
Phusphoric Acid, Iron and Potassium,
OF chlOrophy le-E. y. Hor--
ford.
On some newly discovered properties If
Phosphoric Acid " HorsiDrd.
\ Formula for computing the time Of
Axial Rotation Of any Primary Planet.
it, Density aud the Relative Force If
Gravity at its surfac" being given. Com
municated for Ira Wanzcr of Lane-ville,
A. Bogers.
On New Method Of producing 10y the
electric spark figures similar 10 those Of
W Blake, Jr.
The session was well attended, and in
the afternoon the room was crowded.
EVENING SESSION At LYCEUM HALL.
Rare and extremely interesting expert
nehts wers made AT the evening session.
The subject for the evening wa- the
of remarkable case 81
Of the ThoraK, or chest, toe
ing the entire absence of the breast bone,
allowing OF a complete exhibition of the
motions of rhe heart. DIR, Eugene A
GrouK, native of Hamburg, and now "A
practising physician IN Williamsburg, IL
the posser-or OF such curiorly formed
frame, which Is regarded a. the most ex-
departure from the normal
n
offered 10 scientific observation.
DIR. Groux was then introduced by DR.
]. Baxter Upham OF Bo-ton, who de--
cribed the Interesting experience Of DIR.
Croux, and directed the experiment. Of
the evening. After some introductory
explanations, DIR. Groux, who about -
wears al aus and short and thick in stat