New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-11-18
TYE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.

THE ACADEMY OF SClENCEo'
CLOSE OF THE sEMI-ANNUAL MEETING.
..rvps nv PROFESSOR CHANDLER, PRoffssoH
linen n 8. PEIRCE AND oTHERs-THE FOOT
PRINTS IN NEvApA-THE SOLAR ECLIPSE
uAo National Academy Of Sciences rconcluded its
..mlannual meeting at Columbia College yester-
a. .fternoon and adjourned to meet in Washing
Con an the third Tuesday Of April next. Professor
o. q. Marsh presided He also read paper on
the footprints recently discovered in Nevada whio
were supposed by some TO have been made by mon
O,ner papors were read by g. S. Pcirce, of the
limited States Coast Survey; James Hall. State
0.c,orist at Albany aud Professors Newberry and
Chandler of Columbia College. committee was
appointed to urge upon the Navy Department ana
Interested persons the necessity of sending an OK
pe{ition TO Caroline Island to observe the solar
eclipse next Nav and after the president had resd
a list of the members who had died since last hprh
he Amounted several persons TO write their memoirs
The first paper was read by Professor Han " oh
- the Microscopic Structure OF some OF the Dr"on
toroda with reference to their Generic RELATIONS
uahad n large book on the subject of brachiopoda,
Lch he had written several years ago, before hlll
md said that he was soon to publish revision Oh
the book One OF his arguments yesterday was 10
move that brachiopod is not mollusk, ana THIS
iut he illustrated by many specimens oI bOtu
sneeies In writing his book Professor Hall said that
he had procured between forty AM ntty gen,
era of brachlOpods, many OF which ne hau n'in S
according TO their structure. lie commenueu tno
microscopic study of the internal structure OF SHELLS
as a source of profit and pleasure. Inc paper WI" Ma
discussed by Professor New9Serry anu LIZ o !"
sThe Origin Of CarbOnaceous Matter OF DIV ,t
minous Shaies was the subject OF apaper iu Ns
ed by specimens OF shale by TrOlessoi - % -
berry who said in substance: , ,,
The b,rumnous shales typlhed by the Suca snno
Of The lower surian the Hamilton sna1 OF ' G upp
Tpornnisr ,neludtDR Marcelus the Hamlltoh uehesee
and Guardian shales of the NewYork BIOLOGISTS b anu
their general eQgvelontthe huron Cre SH" caTboner
a on the bitunlnOus shses and the ware,
nss Of o.. Coa Measures There is also IN Colorado
great mass OF bitumnous shale lhese suao1 ID ra
not very fossiierous Economically these shaes are OF
great Importance. Often found several n9 t 80 I0o
fbicE and extending over wide area, lheY lVIlI
store Of comDustibe material ana res bd var
power far beyond tat OF m Tue C9 the produc-
ton OF petroleum to the spontaneous Profession
Olcn Of ohio al Montreal last August sad tha' ne Ie
garled the carbonaceOus matter contained III o i IN
shaes as the spores OF seaweed iound IN tnei, IH
addition to the larger forms OF seaweeds tnere are IN M
which are microscopic and unl-ceHuHr % 49, me
open ocean they occur IN such numbers a byn tor
WaIer Tor hundreds Of square miles some Oh Iuci ,
selfsupporting communities dISwlig .I'i AMI saIt
the sea water They are FOUND IN poIn atV MN in
water and must be leaving an mportan, IesiGIu ~
difused carbonaceous particles ofio ot ty have con-
tbntsd much to the formation OF such caroouaceouS
strata 5 are now considering
g. : Peirce of the United States Coast survey,
presented for publication a memoir upon Tue
SIog,r of Relations The object OF the lnVesllga-
zion was to ascertain general met hod OF teaS9uns
ehout go indicated systems OF relatlons MI Ielic9
ohont eu years ago invented species OF algepIdca
notation 6y which such relations could III az 9iSes
be expressed but although the O,aGn " no ONE
much studied by different mathematlclans Do DhY
had hitherto discovered any general methotl
OF working with tho algebra inns hau az IehktI
been brought 10 light by his last researches anu
was embodied in The PIT sent memoir MI Pelrce aso
preseuted q paper upon the " DrjermlnaUiOn OF tHS
Figure Of The Earth by means 0I N1Iiatiots t6 U
shane of the ea-eve as il would be continued ul-
dc, the continents were these tunnelled our so a.
to allow the ,ea to flow in. Ii was shown that the
shane Of ths surface could be precisely ascertalneu
even for a limited portion of the earth ny means
OF observations of the variations OF Tue lo4Co VI
gravity. Nh. PeiTce presented Tor puo,,ct1Ion d
conv of " Ptolemy's Catalogue OF Stars from an
nncial manuscript Of the eighth century, winch
be had copied in Paris few years ago o ,,o-O IN
DR. c. f. Chandler, of Columbia Coliege gave an
o,ui,nqtion of the Preparation of CYanln from
Chlnolmep The object OF the explanation was 10
show that chinOline could lie made III any quantity
by artificial means, thus making the lneulcaA
sion independent of the limited supply OF the aIu
Gle In it's natural state Besides pelhg useo a. q
drug II was shown that the aruncla pr0uuet MIN.
i've used as a cOloring material with good eject, Dut
with This singular result-that the cOloIs pIoouceu
differed from hose maze ny the I b;nIi"o
natural form, showing thatmanniactuTed chlhonne9
was isomerical and not identical with the Original
substance =, - ,.o.,;,,.s an4lr found
4 he
IN Nevada" was the last paper, and was reaG ny
Professor Marsh The substance OF the paper Is as
follows: .
Mpcb has been written I'm the last year about inc
footnrts found at Carson Nevada They were supposed
TO have been made by human belnss Nearly Ono
Svhos item admitted that they were human OOtsIeIs
INT haI probably been made BY persons wearing sah5
ais with these footprints were also FOUND thOse made
by elephants and The bones 0i horseS Ihee "ele W.
dI63elii, IN assigning them to human beiHss
their great size and the uhuSuai WIN W. - ~
tween tne tracks / have come made 70 i nv men.
but By gigantic sloth !Tat IoIu tHo DoiIeS "a -,
ANNA I'M California. The footprints arc from tWeh! 10
twent, eight inches long and have p5cuaI cur
SOM nave asked II there should not he Indications OF
claws 10 this theory of the sOth 10 adopted guy ~ 10 no.
necessary fpd them, as th layrr oI Iluu Inl "
obnt.racd the slight Impression which lhey wOulu nave
uad'.
After Professor Marshs address the following re-
port was read: -
The council OF the National &c deny OF sciences ap
urcciatug the importance Of astfOnOmca ana pay sC'
nbser atoms OF the eclipse OF the sun on ! o. $50
~ -, ZION Of winch is especially favorable FOR OBJ
fOf the search UfiutrI hercuial planets ahu tu
study Of solar ply slcs approve Tic pI'Jec VI an 81
~ can aud recommend the appOintincnt OF commute e
90 il 10 persons Interested IN the aNahcejen
of science and 10 the Navy Department ol the OA'eu
States.
appointed the following committees: Cnaries a.
Young of Princeton College j, ii. e. Conn, o. inc
Navy Department at Nashlngloni SIMON new
comb of The Nautical Almanac ONCE, at Hashlng-
ton Asaph Hail. of the National Observatory; %
H. Hlig;ud, Superintendent OF the United states
Coast Sarvcy Professor Henry Draper OF this
CITY. aud H. A. Newton, of Yale College.
After thanking the trustees OF Columbia COIlege
for their courtesy III allowing the Academy 10 HOIu
IRIS reunions in the college building, and President
Barnard Tor his hospitality the meeting "'@s u0-
clared adjourned.