INTEREST IN THE COAST SURVEY. 655 



order to satisfy you of the importance of geo- 

 logical and zoological researches in connection 

 with the regular operations of the Coast Sur- 

 vey. Permit me, however, to add a few words 

 upon some points which, as it seems to me, be- 

 long legitimately to the Coast Survey, and to 

 which sufficient attention has not yet been 

 paid. I allude, first, to the salt marshes of 

 our shores, their formation and uses, as well 

 as their gradual disappearance under the ad- 

 vance of the sea ; second, to the extended low 

 islands in the form of reefs along the coast of 

 the Southern States, the bases of which may 

 be old coral reefs ; third, the form of all our 

 estuaries, which has resulted from the conflict 

 of the sea with the drift formation, and is 

 therefore, in a measure, a geological problem ; 

 fourth, the extensive deposits of foraminifera 

 along the coast, which ought to be com- 

 pared with the deposits of tripoli found in 

 many tertiary formations ; fifth, the general 

 form and outline of our continent, with all its 

 indentations, which are due to their geological 

 structure. Indeed, the shore everywhere is 

 the result of the conflict of the ocean with the 

 rock formation of the land, and therefore as 

 much a question for geology as geodesy to 

 answer. 



