EDITOR'S TABLE. 



4 l 3 



best methods for promoting our spirit- 

 ual welfare; but it kindly, and in a 

 most paternal spirit, undertakes to 

 show us the true path, of intellectual 

 and economic salvation. Formerly it 

 was religion that could not thrive with- 

 out state support; now it is science. 

 Formerly it was the priest who under- 

 took the solution of all difficult ques- 

 tions and who stood forth as the visible 

 embodiment of authority ; to-day it is 

 the director of an official scientific bu- 

 reau. In former days it was said that 

 all roads led to Rome; to-day in the 

 United States we are rapidly approach- 

 ing a state of things under which all 

 the paths of science at least will lead 

 to Washington. There it is that a gen- 

 erous Congress generous with the peo- 

 ple's money votes rich appropriations 

 for work, the nature and scope of which 

 not one member in twenty understands. 

 There it is that the authority resides 

 that can hire scientific labor in every 

 part of the country, and provide a prof- 

 itable market for all researches, obser- 

 vations, and theories that fall into line 

 with the main doctrines of official sci- 

 ence. 



When evils reach a certain height 

 they are apt to attract an attention 

 and awaken a resistance that were lack- 

 ing in their earlier and less threatening 

 stages. A bill, a copy of which is before 

 us, reported by the "Joint Commission 

 on the Coast and Geodetic, the Geo- 

 logical and Hydrographic Surveys and 

 Signal Service," seems to indicate that, 

 as regards the Geological Survey, the 

 point of danger is recognized to have 

 been reached. It bears as its title, " A 

 Bill restricting the Work and Publica- 

 tions of the Geological Survey and for 

 other Purposes." The proposition is 

 to confine the survey for the future to 

 strictly geological work, such as may 

 be necessary for the preparation of a 

 good geological map of the country. 

 According to the terms of the bill, it 

 is not in future to expend any money 

 for paleontologic.il work, " except for 

 the collection, classification, and proper 



care of fossils and other material." It 

 is not to undertake the general discus- 

 sion of geological theories, "nor shall 

 it compose, compile, or prepare for pub- 

 lication monographs or bulletins, or 

 other books except an annual report, 

 which shall embrace only the transac- 

 tions of the bureau for the year and 

 the results thereof." It is further pro- 

 vided that in future "all printing and 

 engraving done for the Geological Sur- 

 vey, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 

 the Hydrographic Office of the Navy 

 Department, and the Signal Service, 

 shall be estimated for separately and 

 appropriated in detail for each of said 

 bureaus." 



Such in substance is the bill. In 

 support of its provisions the chairman 

 of the commission, Mr. H. C. Herbert, 

 gives a summary view of the present 

 extent and variety of the work under- 

 taken by the Geological Survey and of 

 its cost to the country. Taking the 

 latter point first, he shows that, leaving 

 the cost of publications out of the ques- 

 tion, the present annual expenditure 

 on the survey amounts to something 

 over half a million dollars, or eighty 

 thousand dollars more than is expended 

 by Great Britain, France, Austria, 

 Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, Russia, 

 Belgium, Norway, Bavaria, Wtirtem- 

 berg, Finland, Canada, Victoria, and 

 Japan taken together. These other 

 countries understand by a Geological 

 Survey, a survey undertaken for the 

 purpose of establishing the main geo- 

 logical features of the national terri- 

 tory; and for this purpose they sever- 

 ally find a moderate expenditure suffi- 

 cient. In this country a different the- 

 ory has apparently prevailed. Here a 

 Geological Survey is a bureau invested 

 with authority, and provided with 

 funds, to undertake not only the widest 

 possible investigations of a geological 

 kind, but also minute researches in 

 paleontology, paleobotany, and litholo- 

 ^j, together with the study of a variety 

 of economic questions touching on the 

 processes of metallurgy and the general 



