O. MISCELLANEOUS. 573 



O. MISCELLANEOUS. 



NEW SURVEY OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is agitating 

 the question of the propriety of making a new and more 

 thorough survey of the territory of the State of Massachu- 

 setts, in reference to its topographical, zoological, geological, 

 and botanical features. The original survey of this state 

 was begun more than forty years ago, and was the first pub- 

 lic survey undertaken in this country, having been subse- 

 quently followed by similar ones carried on by other states 

 and by the general government. Massachusetts has the 

 honor not only of originating this series of surveys, but of 

 giving to the country a large proportion of the scientific men 

 who have conducted those of other states. The scarcity of 

 the Massachusetts reports published many years ago has 

 created the necessity for their republication, and suggests 

 the importance of issuing a revised edition rather than a 

 mere reprint. In carrying out this survey the state can 

 take advantage of the provision made by the Federal Con- 

 gress, by which any state undertaking a topographical sur- 

 vey of its territory is empowered to call upon the L T nited 

 States Coast Survey to make the necessary triangulations, so 

 that the state is at once relieved of a very important part 

 of the work to be done. In making these triangulations, the 

 Coast Survey utilizes the experience of the professors and 

 students in the local colleges. The survey thus becomes a 

 valuable auxiliary to scientific education. 



Concerning the value of such a detailed topographical and 

 geological survey there can be but one opinion. The ma- 

 terial interests of a country have invariably been shown to 

 be advanced by the development of its hidden resources, and 

 the publication to all the world of the results of the labors 

 of such survey. A map representing the land slopes and 

 the areas of the river bottoms, with the contours of the hill- 

 sides, is of the greatest value in guiding plans of public or 

 local improvements, and preventing the waste of capital and 

 labor in unfruitful endeavors. As a singrle illustration of 



