associated with the scientific exploration of the Adirondack Mountains, the most picturesque part of the State of New York, the great playground of the people of this and other states. In 1893 Cushing, with James F. Kemp and C. H. Smyth, Jr., entered this difficult field for the purpose of intensive investigation of its geological structure. For more than one generation it had been a common remark among intelligent people that the Adirondacks were "the oldest rocks on earth," but except in broadest features their structures were not understood or the relations of their mountain-making rock masses, one to another, comprehended. Professor Kemp, conceiving the importance of a systematic attack on this resistant field where geological information had lagged so far behind the rest of the state, brought together this little trinity of workers under the auspices of the state survey and its joint activity continued for many years; and though the attack eventually became a desultory one by two of the three, Cushing's part went on without interruption. He was a fine geologist in a difficult field, keen, patient, with the factors of his problem fully in hand; an excellent petrologist with a perfectly competent understanding of the dynamics of the Precambrian rocks. His grasp of the complicated Precambrian history of New York and the succession of events composing it finally enabled him to tell the story in his "Geology of the Northern Adirondacks." From the beginning of his field work in New York Professor Cushing showed that he was quite as competent to carry on the work in the unaltered sedimentary rocks, even in the intensive way which present requirements demand. He was a manly, frank, open-hearted and devoted student of his science, who challenged respect for his work and engaged the deep attachment of those who were admitted to his friendship.

JOHN M. CLARKE

WHEN Cushing began his work in the Adirondack region in 1893 the pre-Cambrian rocks, excepting the area in which Kemp was working, had been studied only very locally.

or by the aid of antiquated methods which led to quite erroneous conclusions. An assemblage of crystalline limestone, quartzites, schists and gneisses was clearly of sedimentary origin, while certain massive rocks were as clearly igneous. There were also extensive areas of gneisses and schists of doubtful origin. To determine the origin of these rocks, together with the structural and age relations of the various formations, was the fundamental problem. Working at first in the northeastern part of the region, Cushing had to deal mainly with rocks that proved to be igneous, and he was able to establish not only their origin but also, to a large extent, their time relations, and particularly that of the very extensive anorthosites and syenites. The work was later extended to the southern edge of the Adirondacks and, finally, to the northwestern part, his last paper being a report on the Gouverneur quadrangle, now in press.

In this district he came in contact with extensive areas of the Grenville sedimentary series, and worked out in detail their relations to the granites, syenites and gabbros. In this work he emphasized the relatively slight erosion of the crystalline rocks as compared with districts to the east, with the resultant partial, or complete, survival of the roofs of batholiths. In the course of these years of field and laboratory study he gathered a great mass of data which afforded the basis for important papers dealing with differentiation, assimilation, and other petrologic problems. In this work he was greatly aided by a series of highly accurate analyses of rocks made for him by his friend, Dr. E. W. Morley.

One can not look over Cushing's publications on the Adirondack region, even casually, without being impressed by the great volume of work represented, and the wide range of problems treated. The more carefully his papers are studied, the more evident is the wealth of accurate observation and carefully reasoned conclusions contained in them. They constitute a brilliant record of achievement in a difficult field of research.

C. H. SMYTH, JR.

ALTHOUGH Professor Cushing was primarily interested in Precambrian lithology and stratigraphy, he was led into stratigraphic investigation of the Paleozoic formations by his work along the margin of the Adirondack massive and his desire to read the history of this region from the overlapping and surrounding Paleozoic rocks. He was a pioneer in this work, and by his method of carefully noting and comparing the lithologic characters, relative thicknesses and amounts of overlap on the Precambrian, as well as the fossil contents of the various Paleozoic formations, he was able to trace the unequal emergences and submergences of the different sides of the Adirondack massive.

He began at the northeast corner of the Adirondacks, in Clinton county, where he early recognized the great thicknesses of the Potsdam and Beekmantown formations and their thinning westward and southward, implying the more rapid and steady subsidence of the northeastern part of the Adirondacks in Late Cambrian and Early Ordovician time. Then at the southwest corner he found the successive overlap of the Ordovician formations, notably of the Beekmantown and Trenton, upon the comparatively even Precambrian floor and thus inferred a relatively even sinking of this side of the Adirondacks in Early and Middle Ordovician time, interrupted by an elevation in Chazy time.

In the "Geology of the Northern Adirondack Region" the Paleozoic history of the Adirondacks is for the first time treated logically by a comparison of the Paleozoic deposits on all four sides. This work also showed Cushing where correct data were still lacking for a more comprehensive treatment of his subject. These data were supplied by his later work (jointly with Ulrich and Ruedemann) on the Paleozoics of the Thousand Islands (northwest corner), Saratoga Springs (northeast corner) and Ogdensburg (north side) regions. It was his intention to continue the work in the Watertown region together with Ruedemann. Jointly with these co-workers he reached the conclusion that the Paleozoic rocks which rim the Adirondacks

consist largely of the thinner, near-shore edges of a great number of formations, and that there is a great lack of correspondence between the formations on the different sides. This conclusion found its expression in a more refined distinction and correlation of formational units in the Paleozoic rocks surrounding the Adirondacks.

Cushing's stratigraphic work has left its indelible impress upon the elaboration of the geologic history of New York. He was equally keen and enthusiastic in studying the lithologic and structural, as well as the stratigraphic and faunistic characters of the formations; and those who had the good fortune to be associated with him in the field will never forget his vigorous sterling character, cautious and fair weighing of all evidence, and his fine sense of humor.

R. RUEDEMANN

SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

AN ENGLISH HOSPITAL FOR NERVOUS DISORDERS

WE learn from the London Times that Sir Ernest Cassel has given £225,000 to found and endow a hospital or sanatorium for the treatment of functional nervous disorders, and the King and Queen have consented to become patrons of the new institution. Sir Ernest Cassel has purchased a fine mansion and park in ideal surroundings at Penshurst, Kent, for the purpose. The house, which has been reconstructed, will accommodate about 60 patients, and was opened on May 23.

By the term "functional nervous disorders " will be understood those common but complex and distressing conditions which are not the direct outcome of organic disease. Among such may be named neurasthenia, nervous break-down, loss of power not associated with evident structural changes, together with those manifold kindred troubles which are loosely termed "nervous." Largely the result of the stress and turmoil of modern life, they are unfortunately of great frequency and are accompanied by much suffering, and followed, not uncommonly, by disastrous mental and physical consequences. Subjects of these dis

orders often become incapacitated and remain so for want of the particular treatment they require. For such treatment scarcely any facilities exist at the present moment. To say that a condition is merely due to "nerves "" has been almost equivalent to saying that it calls for nothing beyond rest and change. These disorders are, however, amenable to medical treatment under favorable conditions, and it is to provide such means of cure and further to expand and elaborate them that the present institution has been founded.

The hospital is primarily intended for those members of the educated classes who are unable to meet the heavy expenses associated with care and treatment in a nursing home. The upkeep of the institution and the treatment of the patients have been largely provided for by the generosity of the founder, but a charge will be made to each patient as a contribution to his or her maintenance.

The members of the general committee, under the chairmanship of Sir Ernest Cassel, are Sir Robert Hudson, Sir Courtauld Thomson, Sir Felix Cassel (the trustees of the fund), and Mrs. Joshua, together with the members of the medical committee, Miss Aldrich-Blake, M.S., Dr. Farquhar Buzzard, Sir Maurice Craig, Lord Dawson, Professor J. S. Haldane, Dr. Henry Head, Dr. A. F. Hurst, and Sir Frederick Treves. Dr. T. A. Ross, who has had a wide experience of diseases of the nervous system, has been appointed medical director.

THE GIFT TO MME. CURIE

THE deed of gift, which accompanied the gram of radium presented to Mme. Curie by President Harding on May 27 reads:

This agreement, made this 19th of May, 1921, between the Committee of Women of the Marie Curie Fund, of 3 Macdougal Street, New York City, and Mme. Curie, of Paris, France, witnesseth:

WHEREAS a gram of radium has been secured through the efforts of the above mentioned committee and by the voluntary subscriptions of the women of the United States for the purpose of presentation to Mme. Marie Curie for free and

untrammeled use by her in experimentation and in pursuit of science,

Now, therefore, in consideration of the object above set forth and in order that the fullest scientific use may be made of such material, the said executive committee of the Mme. Curie Fund, as representing the subscribers thereto, does hereby give, grant and transfer to Mme. Marie Curie the said gram of radium, to be used and applied by her freely and in her discretion in experimentation and in the best interests of science by herself personally, or under her direction or through such agencies, assistants and successors as she may nominate, and in the confident expectation that Mme. Curie will take measures as will insure the continued use of the said material for the purposes stated, in case of her withdrawal from activities or other disability through such persons as she may adjudge best qualified for the purpose.

RUINS IN THE UPPER CANADIAN VALLEY

IN March and April, Messrs. W. K. Moorehead and J. B. Thoburn travelled through the Upper Canadian valley and the Panhandle of Texas and eastern New Mexico, continuing the explorations begun last spring in that region. They discovered that the small buildings and house foundations which are supposed to have marked the beginning of the Pueblo-Cliff Dweller culture extended through New Mexico to the foot of the continental divide. In the Mora valley they found seven or eight small ruins and one L-shaped structure 200 x 150 feet which were distinctively Pueblo. On the surface, and by means of excavation, broken pottery of black and white design was found. This was archaic Pueblothe earliest type. In Ute and La Cinta canyons were found rock shelters and caverns which had been inhabited by Indians. Many more petroglyphs were also discovered.

The results of this expedition are said to confirm the observations made last year to the effect that a new field in American archeology has been opened and that Indian remains extend through a territory approximately 250 x 150 miles.

GEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO CHINA

A PARTY of six geologists and mining engineers from Minnesota and Wisconsin, includ

ing Professor W. J. Mead, of the department of geology, W. R. Appleby, of the school of mines, University of Minnesota; Professor W. H. Emmons, University of Minnesota; Frank Hutchinson, consulting engineer, Duluth, Minn.; L. D. Davenport, mining engineer, Hibbing, Minn.; and W. H. Graigo, mining engineer, recently of South Africa, of the University of Wisconsin, will go to China this summer as consulting experts for the South Manchuria Railway company. The party will sail from Seattle early in June and return in October. Professor Mead writes:

The South Manchuria Railway company controls partly developed iron and coal deposits near Mukdan, South Manchuria. The iron deposits resemble geologically those of the Lake Superior region. The railway company has employed a group of technical men familiar with the Lake Superior iron mining industry to make a thorough investigation of the Manchurian deposits during the coming summer and to advise on the best methods of opening up and developing both the iron ore and the coal.

EXPEDITION TO THE UPPER BASIN OF THE

AMAZON

AN expedition to the headwaters of the Amazon River, under the leadership of Dr. H. H. Rusby, dean of the school of pharmacy of Columbia University, will sail for Antofagasta, Chile, on June 1. The main object of the expedition, which is financed by the H. K. Mulford Company, is the collection of herbs and plants likely to be of use in medicine, but studies will be made of the fauna and flora of the region.

Dr. Frederick L. Hoffman, statistician and vice-president of the Prudential Life Insurance Company, will accompany the expedition to make a study of health conditions with a view to the possibility of the acclimatization of white men in the region. Other members of the expedition are: Dr. William M. Mann, assistant entomologist of the Bureau of Entomology of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, in charge of entomology; Dr. Everett Pearson, University of Indiana, in charge of ichthyology; Dr. Orland E. White, of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, representing Har

vard University, in charge of botany; and George S. McCarthy, of Woodbury, N. J., taxidermist.

From Antofagasta, the expedition will travel by way of the Guggenheim mining properties to La Paz, Bolivia. From La Paz it will pass through unexplored territory, crossing the Andes at an elevation of more than 19,000 feet. Calomar will be used as a base for the expedition.

SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS

THE ROYAL SOCIETY on May 5 elected as foreign members Dr. Albert Calmette, of the Pasteur Institute; Dr. Henri Deslandres, of the Paris Observatory; Professor Albert Einstein, of the University of Berlin; Professor Albin Haller, of the University of Paris; Professor E. B. Wilson, of Columbia University, and Professor P. Zeeman, of the University of Amsterdam.

PROFESSOR GEORGE C. WHIPPLE, of the Harvard Engineering School and the Harvard Technology School of Public Health, has been elected an honorary fellow of the Royal Sanitary Institute of Great Britain.

DR. OTTO KLOTZ, director of the Dominion Observatory, Ottawa, has been elected president of Section III. (Mathematical, Physical and Chemical Sciences) of the Royal Society of Canada.

THE following officers were elected at the annual meeting of the Kentucky Academy of Sciences on May 14:

President, George D. Smith, Eastern Kentucky State Normal School, Richmond, Ky.

Vice-president, Lucien Beckner, Winchester, Ky. Secretary, A. M. Peter, Experiment Station, Lexington, Ky.

Treasurer, Chas. A. Shull, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.

Member of Publications Committee, D. W. Martin, Georgetown College, Georgetown, Ky.

Representative in the Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, A. M. Peter.

DR. A. R. MANN, dean of the New York State Agricultural College at Cornell Uni

versity, has declined the post of New York State Commissioner of Agriculture, to which he was recently appointed by the State Council of Farms and Markets.

ROBERT C. DUNCAN, physicist at the Bureau of Standards, has resigned to accept a position as technicist for the Bureau of Ordnance, Navy Department.

MR. B. H. RAWL, assistant chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, has resigned to take charge of the educational work of the California Central Creameries, with headquarters in San Francisco.

DR. W. K. GREGORY sailed for Sydney, New South Wales, on May 31, to enlist the cooperation of Australian museums with the American Museum of Natural History and to secure material for the Australian Hall of the Museum.

MR. W. L. G. JOERG, of the scientific staff of the American Geographical Society of New York and editor of its Research Series, left on May 21 on a six months' leave of absence for a trip to Europe on behalf of the society to study the present status and tendencies of geography in Europe and to establish closer relations with kindred workers and institutions.

DR. H. H. WHETZEL, head of the department of plant pathology at Cornell University, has been granted sabbatical leave for the year 1921-22. He will sail on June 8 for Bermuda, where he is to be associated with the Department of Agriculture of the Islands in plant disease survey and research work. Dr. L. M. Massey will be acting head of the department in the absence of Professor Whetzel.

A BOTANICAL garden, established as part of Albany's park development program in cooperation with the Albany College of Pharmacy, which will contain every plant grown in the state, is included in the new college plans. According to Dean Mansfield, the garden will be one of the most complete of its kind in the United States and will be arranged after the plan of the London and Paris botanical parks.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS

OFFICIAL announcement is made in Yale Alumni Weekly of the construction in the immediate future of a new chemical laboratory by Yale University. It will be known as the Sterling Chemical Laboratory and will be constructed to accommodate all the undergraduate and graduate chemical activities of the university. At present the department of chemistry is occupying the two departmental laboratories, Kent and Sheffield, which are inadequate to meet the future growth of the department.

A MEMORIAL has been presented to the council of the Senate of the University of Cambridge for a syndicate to be appointed to consider possible alterations in the Mathematical and Natural Sciences Triposes with the object of facilitating the acquisition by candidates in one subject of a knowledge of the other.

PROFESSOR R. A. DUTCHER of the department of biochemistry will leave the University of Minnesota at the end of the school year to become head of the department of chemistry in the college of agriculture at Pennsylvania State College.

PROFESSOR A. D. Ross, professor of mathematics and physics and formerly vice-chancellor of the University of Western Australia, Perth, has been elected a member of the governing body of the university.

It is proposed to appoint Professor H. Lamb, now in residence in the University of Cambridge, to an honorary university lectureship to be called the Rayleigh lectureship in

mathematics.

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE

THE AURORA OF MAY 14, 1921

A VERY bright auroral display was observed here on the evening of May 14. The sky was overcast until 10 P.M. eastern standard time. As the clouds dissolved, the aurora was noted in spite of the bright moonlight.

The focus of the display was near the zenith in the vicinity of the star Arcturus. From that point streamers radiated in all directions,