Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 50.djvu/585

Rh the most convincing character. The passage from the yellow till into the blue till, and the occurrence of occasional strata of gravel, are characteristic of the glacial deposits of northern Ohio; and the axe had been subjected to oxidizing agencies characteristic of the deeply covered strata of that immediate vicinity. The Trenton discovery is interpreted as showing that there was a clearly marked succession of human occupancy in the Delaware Valley, in which, from the sole use of argillite implements, a transition occurred to the use of flint and jasper in later times; while in the Ohio discovery the conditions were such as apparently to exclude every supposition but that of the contemporaneous age of the implement with the formatiom in which it was found.

Nature Study in the Chicago Schools.—A plan for systematic outdoor or field work in connection with Nature study, to be carried on by the pupils of the public schools of Chicago, has been reported by a committee of sixty teachers which was appointed in May, 1896, by the Chicago Institute of Education. The features of the plan may perhaps be best understood by indicating the duties of the subcommittees which the general committee has instituted to care for its various special features. First is the executive committee, the purpose of which is to devise ways and means for carrying the whole into effect and to second the efforts and work of the other subcommittees. A committee on maps will prepare maps of the environs of Chicago to assist the pupils and teachers in a systematic study of the country at a convenient distance around the city; these maps to comprise large maps, each including only one of the most conspicuous geographo-geologic features, and smaller maps showing details—the location of the specific features of interest. The maps already made by Prof. T. C. Chamberlin, and kindly offered by him, will be used as the basis of this work. A committee on syllabi is to prepare printed outlines and suggestions which will intelligently and economically direct pupils and teachers in their consideration of the different areas and subjects chosen for study. The syllabus should not be compiled information, but should simply suggest the problems that are furnished for study by each area and indicate lines and methods of investigation. A fourth committee will look in the libraries after the books that may be useful to the pupils engaged in Nature study and available for their use. A committee on instruction and school exhibits will make themselves acquainted with the work of Nature study in the schools and with the teachers engaged in it, and make monthly reports to the committee of sixty of what is actually being accomplished, and will establish at some suitable place a permanent exhibit illustrating the character of the work. A committee of public information will see that all these things are made known and kept in mind. A committee on transportation will try to interest the railroads, etc., in the scheme, and to secure convenient facilities and privileges for the transportation of pupils and parties going out to fields of Nature study. Arrangements will be made for frequent trips of small numbers rather than for larger excursions at longer intervals, which might give the affair too much the air of a picnic. Hence it is suggested that only the pupils of one or two rooms be sent out at a time, under the immediate supervision of their teachers. A committee on finance and a conference committee are also instituted for the purpose indicated by their titles. It is anticipated by the committee of sixty that, when once under way, this plan will be expanded to include every department of school work.

Spitzbergen Explored.—The principal geographical work of the Conway expedition to Spitzbergen was the first crossing of the island, from Advent Bay to Agardh Bay. The country traversed was mapped, its geology was examined, and collections were made of its plants and animals. Afterward the whole expedition sailed northward to the Seven Islands, and through Kinlopen Strait and across Olga Strait to near King Charles Island. An attempt to complete the circumnavigation of Spitzbergen was blocked by ice. The highest peak in the island was ascended. The land animals observed were the bear, arctic fox, and reindeer, of which the last are abundant. Birds are individually numerous, but of few species. All the twenty five recorded species were observed,