Further contributions to the history of the fossil flora of Tasmania. Part II

The second of this series of contributions to the our history of Fossil Flora refers largely to collections of plants made by the Rev J. Button, F.L.S., from Upper Mesozoic coal measures shales in the neighbourhood of Dunally, which collection this accomplished naturalist kindly placed at my disposal It will be seen from the notes, descriptions, and figures which follow that I have been enabled by these collections to add to the list several interesting plant forms new at least to our Tasmanian Fossil Flora, With one or two of the forms, new to science, it has afforded me great pleasure to associate the name of the discoverer I am indebted also to my friend, A. Montgomery, M.A.,F.G.S., our Government Geologist, for more perfect specimens of three species of undescribed, or imperfectly described fossil plants occurring in the coal measures of Fingal, Seymour, and York Plains. By the more perfect examples, thus obtained, I have been enabled to add a new genus to our list (Strzeleckia) of Mesozoic plants and also three new species. I had long been on the outlook for perfect examples of these forms, which I recognised many years ago ; but the specimens in my possession hitherto were too imperfect to determine their specific characters satisfactorily. I have also added to the list one or two interesting forms obtained by myself some years ago from shales of Upper Mesozoic Age at Lord's Hill, New Town, and elsewhere. I have in a separate table prepared a complete classified list of all the species of fossil plants known to me of Permo-carboniferous and Mesozoic Age which have been described to date, including those new forms described in this contribution. This table (embracing 75 species) is also arranged to show what I now conceive to be the probable order of succession of the principal groups and formations; and against each recorded their respective floras for the benefit of the stratagraphist and the mining expert

Natural Gas in the Drift of Iowa

The finding of natural gas in the Pleistocene deposits of the state has been noted from time to time during the past decade. The first mention of its occurrence, as far as known, appeared in the report of the state mine inspector for the years 1886 and 1887

On a Quaternary Section Eight Miles South-East of Des Moines, Iowa

The section is located on the line of the Wabash railway about two miles below the little station of Hastie. It forms a continuous exposure of nearly three-fourths of a mile in length; and in some places has almost a vertical face of from 125 to 150 feet. It is capped by twenty feet of loess, carrying characteristic fossils such as Succinea arara Say; Succinea obliqua Say; Helicina occulta Say; Pupa muscorum Linne; Vallonia pulchella Muller; Zonites arboreus, Say; Patula strigosa, Gould; and a large Helix, probably Mesodon thyroides, Say. Below the loess to the track level the section is made up of blue clays and straticulate sands and gravels with occasional large boulders. In the gravel several large fragments of carboniferous limestone with fossils were found. The lower sands rest directly upon the coal measure shales probably since these are well shown in the river bed 10 feet below the track. The section is of special interest, inasmuch as it is near the terminal moraine of the Des Moines lobe of the great glacier usually referred to the second epoch of the North American Ice Age

Aluminum in Iowa

Attention is called to the birth of an industry in Iowa that promises to be one of the greatest industries of the State in the near future. It is the establishment of a plant for the production of aluminum. As is well known, this metal is soon to be the metal of the world-replacing largely iron, steel and other metallic substances used in the arts. The properties of aluminum need not be dwelt upon here. The cost of producing the metal has hitherto been the great drawback to its general usage. A few years ago the price was $15.00 or more a pound. Now it is about 50 cents. And improved methods have just been announced by which it may be extracted at a cost of less than 20 cents per pound. A few months ago a plant was established at Hampton, Iowa, which is working a clay yielding three ounces more of aluminum to the bushel than in any other known locality in the west, and, perhaps, in the United States. The suggestion is important. Iowa has within her borders inexhaustible supplies of good clays admirably adapted for this purpose. But they require careful investigation that they may not be worked indiscriminately and thereby lead to complete failure in many cases. When the industry shall have become thoroughly established the gold fields of California, of Australia, of indeed the whole world will sink into insignificance as compared with the wealth coming from this source

Note on the Differences between Acervularia profunda Hall, and Acervularia davidsoni Edwards and Haine

The original description of Acercularia profunda Hall, is found in Hall\u27s Report on the Geological Survey of Iowa, published in l858. The specimens on which the species was founded came from near Independence, in Buchanan County, Iowa. In the same report Professor Hall, not without some hesitation identifies another form found abundantly throughout the Devonian area in Iowa, with Acercularia davidsoni Edwards and Haine. This so far as I have been able to ascertain, was the first time the name had been employed in a work published in America; for although Edwards and Haine\u27s specimens came from near Jeffersonville, Indiana, the description of Acercuilaria davidsoni appeared in the great Monograph of the authors, published in France. It should be noted that near Jeffersonville, Indiana, there occurs another form which authors, following the example of Edwards and Haines, usually refer to Cyathophyllum rugosum Hall

Iowa Mineralogical Notes

Pyrite-Quite recently there have been obtained from limestone cavities in Lee County some small but very perfect pyrite crystals. The faces are brightly reflecting and meet in sharply defined edges. The more common crystallographic forms are the pentagonal dodecahedron, or pyritohedron, and the cube, with all gradations between the two. Though small they are perhaps the most perfect crystals of this mineral found in the state up to the present time