discussed by Arthur Keith; and the same type of mountain-folding was described by C. D. Walcott in the White Mountain range of Inyo County, Cal. Other papers on the Paleozoic rock series, and on their fossils, were by N. S. Shaler, H. P. Gushing, C. R. Keyes, H. S. Williams, David White, and Dr. Robert Bell. Mesozoic formations in Arkansas were described by G. K. Gilbert and F. P. Gulliver; in Montana, by W. H. Weed and L. V. Pirsson; and in Maryland and New Jersey, by W. B. Clark and N. H. Darton. Coming down to the present time in the geologic record, the Tertiary and Quaternary formations of New Jersey were reviewed by R. D. Salisbury; and the history of the island of Cuba during these eras was traced by J. W. Spencer. About a dozen other papers were on observations in petrography and mineralogy. The officers elect for the year 1895 are Prof. N. S. Shaler, Cambridge, Mass., president; Prof. Joseph Le Conte, Berkeley, Cal, first vice-president; Prof. C. H. Hitchcock, Hanover, N. H., second vicepresident; Prof. H. L. Fairchild, Rochester, N. Y., secretary; Prof. I. C. White, Morgantown, W. Va., treasurer; Mr. J. Stanley Brown, Washington, D. C, editor; and Mr. R. W. Ells, Ottawa, Canada, and Prof. C. R. Van Hise, Madison, Wis., new members of the council.
Prof. Sully's Inquiries.—Prof. James Sully, being about to issue a new and revised edition of his Teacher's Handbook of Psychology, and desiring to make it as useful as possible to teachers, invites suggestions as to the directions in which the book might be improved. He would also be glad to receive striking observations of children's mental characteristics as they reveal themselves under the processes of education, and fresh illustrations of the effects on the young mind of methods of teaching which accord with the principles laid down, and still more of those which conflict with them. These observations may relate to the ignorances of children, their preconceptions and prejudices, the special directions of their observation and interest, their customary lines of mental association (sequence of ideas), their ways of interpreting language, their modes of judging and reasoning about things, their sensibility and insensibility, and their attitude toward moral discipline. Illustrations are also desired of the practical bearing of principles, and more especially of the evils resulting from the neglect of them. Mr. Sully's address is East Heath Road, Hampstead, London, N. W. Communications should be sent before the end of April, 1895.
Disinfection of Scarlet-Fever Patients.—Experiments by Dr. William Gibson, of Campbeltown, Scotland, in disinfecting scarlet-fever patients so as to free them from contagion before the process of desquamation is completed, have resulted successfully. His method was to give a succession of three or four comfortably warm baths, sometimes daily, at other times on alternate days, using freely carbolic-acid soap, and washing the patient thoroughly from top to toe. After each bath, except the last, the patient was put back to the bed on which he had lain with the disease. After the last bath he was taken into a clean room, dressed with clothes free from infection, and then allowed to mingle with the rest of the family. In most cases the body was anointed daily with olive oil mixed with some disinfectant. Patients with such complications as otitis or ulcerated or suppurating throat were not subjected to the process. No complications followed the cleansing process in any case; but convalescence seemed to be rather hastened than retarded.
The Elements of Speech in the Kindergarten.—Drill in the sounds that make up words is suggested by Mrs. E. B. Burnz as a proper and profitable exercise for the kindergarten. Her idea is set forth in three articles that appeared in the Kindergarten News in the course of 1894. Few pupils or teachers in the ordinary schools realize that every word is composed of sounds into which it may be divided. Practice in making the separate sounds, combining them to form words, and separating words into their phonetic elements would greatly facilitate correct and ready enunciation both in speaking and reading. Many parents are much distressed because their children, when of kindergarten age and older, can not speak plainly. Such phonetic drill would be of great benefit to these children. The idea by no means involves the introduction of read-
