Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/428

 tVoL. v., No. Ifl

��I the high hummocks: for these humniockB, In part at len^t, are proiliiceii by the action of the miocene phosphallc llmcftoiie, aiiu not the oliyoeeTte, upon the prevailing Band; soils.

And, similarly, the much wider distrlljutlon qI Ihete miocene roclta proves that a much larger proportion of the peninsula was submerged after the oligoceue period than I at one time supposed.

We sball liHik with the very grentest Interest for the results of Mr. Johnson's Inveslignlions of the rocks of Ihe western cosst of Florida, in Henianilu and HillBboruugb counties.

I may add that none of the specimens of the upper oligoeeoe or Vlcksburg limestone, either from Florida or Alabama, which I have examined, show more than a alight trace of phosphoric acid.

��Unltenllf ot A

��I, April 1(

��EroKNE A. Smith.

��I I

��It might have been hasty, without books, and with- out sufficient opportunity for compariaon, to have pronounced the phosphalic rocks of Preston's Slnh, Fort Barlee, miocene, or not older. I now tbink it later still; but always with the reservation that I may be permitted to change my mind upon a more careful 'study, under circumstances more favorable, and also deferring to the opinion of Dr. White, who already has such favorable opportunities, when he can get time to take up the subject, with all my col- lection before him.

The location of these phosphates Is o( more Imme- diate Import to you and me. But, on the que.-tioii of the horizon, I ask the consideration of the facts and •pecimen already sent you. The ' Nifger Sink ' at Downiiig'a, in tills vlclnlt; alone, ought to set the question at resL' There you find tr. situ, snd exhibit- ing their due relatioua, the oligocene limestone at the base, and finally, after various intermediate de- posits, n liuudred and Dfty (eet above, the siliceous phosphativ rock, exactly similar to that sent you from the quarry at Gainesville, from Liveoak, and which is found In this oak and hickory r^on on the top of every hill.

There, also, you find two fossils, — theOatrea, found also at Hawthorne and in the Wacahootle region, Marion county, always underlying the pbospbatcs, and above the Orbitoides and Pecten ot the lime- stone; itnd the other, the great coralline, of which I could mail but a fragment. This last is aeen In titu, to far as I am now informed, nowhere but on the tops (if Ihete hills, overlooking the Natural Bridge of Santa Fi.

The FvTl Harlee marl, ocar Waldo, is quite differ- ent from the phospliatic rock I have been sending yon from so many points. It has all Its shells, or easts of sheila, intact. The vertebrate fossils, liowever, seem the same; that is, the sharks' teeth and saurian remains are alike. The phosphatic rock haa lost all Its fossil stietls. That these once existed, is clear from the fact that occasionally a trace may be found. If not the same, then how are they related? The argu- ment nmst be postponed; but to me the conclusion is clear that the Waldo bed is newer than the others. All the others, from the texture of the rock, the obscure traces of sheila, the chemical constituents, and from Ihe surroundings, may be classed as one.

1 TlirBB QlhrrFt. hewiafute ..jplKlPL-J, — aimroon. ut Hmv- IhoRif, SulllTBD oJd ndil, mid tht dfil's mltl-LopiH'r, — luiuin ibc umc concluiloiu. uid none contndliil.

���The great extent of the formation, and the uultonttitgr of Ihe rock, are still very remarkable.

Undoubtedly It is the same rock seen near Ocalo, where the limestone is not visible, at Hawthorne, at Gainesville, at Newmanville, at two or three knolls in the vicinity of Liveoak, and on innumerable others all over this central region of oligocene sinka. Strangely, too, the knobs are uniformly ot a height of about Flsty feet above the surrounding flats and de- pressions marked by the cherty limestone. It would be interesting and valuable, if 1 had the means in my power, to locale and measure the extent of every one of these deposits. Tour own census report, glTlng- the extent of hummocks, and oak and hickory soils, east ot the great chain ot sand-dunes from Apaptca northward, and west of the lake region, is the neaj means 1 can suggest for making an approximate ei mate. LAiJRtKCE (.'. Jin

Ncwmiiavllk-, Fin., Uirch -H.

Do telegraph-wlreB foretell

Probably some thousand Americans hare notli _ the automatic storm-signalling of wires by sound- vibration. I allowed a t^lepiiunc'Wire to remain for t long time attached to one corner of my (frame) hooM because of its practical utility as a weather-prophet. When not a leaf was Stirling in the neighborhood, and not a breath tu be felt, the deep undulationa were audible in aluioal every room, although mufilera had been duly applied. Before that, some hours In advance of every severe storm, the upper story was hardly Inhabitable on account ot the unearthly up- roar, which would have made a first-rate case for toe Society for psychical research.

The warning that it gave varied from six to twelve hours, rarely exceeding the latter; and I do not think it ever warned in vain. When the storm actu- ally came, the uoi^e nearly always ceased. It never was noticeable in the warmer part of the year; and through the heat of midsummer it was silent. [ cannot recall any exception to this. Its climax <rf clamor was reached some hours before the 'eleclrlo storm,' as it was called, o( November, 1882. But all through tno winters and the proximate parts of autumn and spring I found It a trustworthy and aelf- aunouncing stArm-signaller, which left me abundant time to prepare. I had it removed, Qnally, beeaase there was sickness in the house, and Its dolefid prophecies were not appreciated.

I explained the phenomenon, partly at least, hg the effect of very distant air-iiupulacs iransmitted la sotmd-waves from wire to wire, after the manner irf the acouatic or mechanical telephone. Yet this dow not seem quite adequate, when one considers how tar those vibrations must have travelle ferred to are certainly not due to electric currents, nor to the mi[iute acoustic waves of the mechanics] telephone, but are simple transverse vibrations and longitudinal waves such as occur on every stretched cord that gives out a musical note. These vibrations are ultimately caused by the wind. For any elven trire stretched in a permanent location, there wlllundoubt- edly be a certain direction and character of wind that will call forlli Its loudest tones. Our correspond- ent's wire may be specialty influenced by lite sotilh--]

��I 1 I

��I

�� �