New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-04-28
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
r,r,npAy AMONG BIOLOGISTS.


Tur MeoN's MOTIONS.
,ypou STAFF CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE,l
W,suINGToN, April 21.-The last day OF the
,o, ~ the National Academy was quite as lively rs
- ,,., preceded. For q short time indeed, q d'scus-
- ,roueht all the biologists to their feet; and what
g. might do II they once vert fairly on the
osce IL is Impossible to cay. There are
ong The biologists of the Academy some subdued
,s thai may at any time break forth into such per
@ proceedings terminated the Society Of tie Stanis-
Ian Yesterdays debate was ON an Old GROUND OF ais
,o From the time Of its first exploration the FAR West
hss ven trouble 10 the rocksharps Some OF them have
become 80 bewdered In the endeavor to make the strata
:, that region agree with the record elsewhere.
that they have proposed to abandon tho effort,
and think of getting up two systems OF geology; one
tor the great West, and for the rest OF the world
petseen the men study fossils specially and those
Who study alone the difference of opinion is ca
,me as TO the rocks of certain locacs the matter ia
ttber complicated by dispute between the students Of
fossils conne themselves to plants and those who
deal exclusively with animal remains. When the debate
was at its hight yesterday Dr. Hayden tried to quiet 1t
nv urging that after great difference OF
opnon involved bat he attempted to cite an
instance TO prove this position he interrupted by
poiptblank denial, and 10 became clear that he was
srreading tho flames instead OF smothering them.
A matter Of grayer and general interest was
brought up in Major Powcis description of pupic
lands IL be true that there is scarcely any good land
left At for a poor homestead farm, the sooner the
fact is announced the better There is nothing to be
gained by protractinS a homestead system that has
ceased to of service and that now prevents rather
than fosters settlement very sensible solution OF the
Indian problem was iehy urged by Prof L. H. Morgan
OF Rochester u man whose thoughtful studies OF orr
aboriginal entte his opinion on such SUBJECT 70
the highest value The Academy adiOurEci after detcT-
iuin that their meeting FGlD is to be held in
NewYor their usual luck they selected Election
Day for the day mecting fortunately there is time
enough between and then to change from TINS Az
snrdy The meeting broke without any 1orlnaty Of
concluding addresses votes OF thanks; III iact ther'
was nobody to be thanked except Prof Henry and the
other peop!e of the Smithsonian. The Academy adj
ionrnci actaaly adiourned-and have never sad enc
word about blue glass during the entire mecthg Hero
with are abstracts of the essays yesterday:
THE HENRY MOUNTAINS.
The fashion of representing geographical areas ana
sspccjally mountainous districts by means OF plaster
and in basreef. has found great favor witan recent
years When well executed and made by scale ~ TO
nights such representations give far clearer idea OF the
locality than IS possible from brief inspection of ordinary
charts diasrams or pictures Two fine specimens OF
this sort Dasrelief exhibited at the noctnS OF
locality Of the Henry Mountains range In Southern
Utah In the region drained by the Upper Colorado Rvei
and on its right; more specifically, on tbc
right bank OF the san Juan River. These noun,
,se academy of SCIENCES Prof G. X. Gilbert described
their ieadug features before the Academy III genera
thr geological characteristics arc not masked by VeSe
". ii,at, and Inc GENERAL elevation Of The region Tic
,nountus are OF gneous origin though Ouy part of
igeoIs materials The usual type OF volcanic foGpS is
vel general the voc no spreads us lava rom
But in the Henry Mountains the molten natrI never
reached the surface; after partly pen'uHtpg t,c
earth's crust this lava stopped by the upper |
strata and 1t raised those strata into dome-sialcd
mountss The covering strata though Usually sug'eod
CTack Cd Cxtensi,el they are Deht over hC
Dow Of lava and 1t in each separate eevalGn Fto
Gilbert has called this lava akolite; IL IS easly dlSt
guscd from other ayas by Its extreme hardness due 10
The pressure TO which it has been snDJectea peSse
and amounting TO 5000 10000 pounds per square
inch. While no cracks were formed that gave vent
tnough Ia the surface there in ali Instances found
Iada cracks that penetrate the strata upward fom the
ars are Oiled with lnE0lite and many Of them
directly with central mass Tue hVG lr noPa ~, un
srd have oi eg IKE contour Two great groups Of
strata received the intrusive lakohtcI ne ne |
ti1e of tie intrusion there prObab 10000 feet Of
strata ABOVE lakoe but of this everything cap 5000
processes OF liquidation The portions of the cap swept
away were tertiary t.t IorTs spne mSovc Gre
with many OF the observed results. There several
OF nor groups of mountains In the vicinity oil similar type
or the Henry mountains the highest has an elevation OF
$50 feet above searvel; the next one lloVO icet
the abont 5000 feet In the discussion when Io
lowed reading TINS paper Major Powell descped
souo hexuros and dlsplaeelnehtS which NAE
sions Masses of from or to 10 or 10 squale
miles OF surface and 5000 TO 10000 left tmGthess are
ence To their weight OF size.
WESTERN GEOLOGY IN DISPUTE
DE- F. v Hayden delivered brief essay on the boring
OF certain artean wells the line OF tile Union racine
Ralro 3D. which s,.ted lively debate on the long dis
puted questions the geology of Western localities The
wells were constructed Rtwlins Springs the line
Of the railroad in wyoming Territory. On the DIVIDE
Of thr incut. from TIE sides Oi WHICH some sIIeas
md their way the eastward ana some 10 NC racine
eoas IL scarcely any running "atc ana le SOii -
arid The wells we've sunk under Dr. haNdchs 'uiectioh
10 various Cephs chart showing the strata penetrated
was shown 10 the Academy one wen az a d,elth Vi
LILO feet struck wafer tAat yielded ZCOo gallons per
9th
Mat y r, uts with n Weld Of different quantities, one
nj 300 feet obtaining loOO gallons per hoai ihe wacI
!. drawn by pumps driven DV Wldhil.s io i;iaii h
thu district Is very slDau not over u" ~ IA az
Der wear Tie results show that tie most ara CTS
tras niay be watered by iudciousy placed wells Inc
locality OF the wells is syncn basin OF tertiary iolin
tOE, probably cOccne; but pd!h,dto'oSlSto uiOt al
examination Of It's fossils pronounce them CTetlecoIs
DR. Hayden TOOK occasion 10 SAPtcSs s 'ho nr 80,
isaa ma this the great clasin between LEG cT1
teous and leIlaly crds-a cAsSin Tio :; naI srd
The rcprOacb of se0iOgy-waS DIluScu o.c ~ ~. a.,
up The consecutive rocks here, ne SAID, conirct a e
vsy FROM cretaoeos TO middle efulIS. ne i ~ s,"i
eventually the otler cbaS.h5 Oh Stoos5 a " CO..,
Larry flcd TN the history of the rocks wod nc az co-
pete IN respect continuity OF observation as At no" 10
In t theory. though not ia the fOsls by WHICH tnoe'O
luton Of animal life is Illustrated -, . a., -, n,
Prof Cope said that opinions similar to those OF Dr
Hayc lad been gaining ground among eNpoterS T r
had 'Edc themselves familiar with that iocalHy. lho
truly cietcoOus aud the truly tertaE IocAo appi ~ -
a. clos injection tbeTe but tue FAUNA "a nse 5
are tlusted still, in the most speclhc manner, anu
there transition by descS apTiren{ ,n 10 to ,
ma lie believes tuat the sharp line OF uGhalnd
tOn between The fossil remains Of this locality can DC
bet accounted for a result OF an incuTson % me am
mab Of the later they we're cas- ~ eShapeo' oo9"''
In. the sauIaus ami possessing the Land .,
Pot Marsh sand tat he BAD explored , sg 'fS IS Iav
fcrTed 10 IN 1865 He caunOt qui'S HSI.C VIZ 10 -
Den IN his geological opinions ana Aai 49, ,,Icns
smc group o. ioe"S a. he ratcoas and
there OF mountaineering between tne -, I,r,iI
tertiary Strata IN. lC"sie IN particular are VIZ ~
detucd som eonuoL mad Deeh lHtl ta a., wi
matter by cnde1vor 10 determine inc Ss" ~,
deBee irOt plants. sGch plants arc very nouuI
eylde as to tGc axe 81 dtrost eAaSh~S N n%srt
Through cyaal distinct geological eltS vs.. aI,Ie
brates furnish evidence tHat j. almost as l,stoD.