GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF FORTIETH PARALLEL. 305 



anything which had before been attempted in this country. To the 

 good taste and the technical skill of Mr. Julius Bien, of New York, 

 Mr. King is largely indebted for the beauty and accuracy of this atlas ; 

 and it may be a matter of general congratulation among American 

 geologists that it was then demonstrated that the cartographic art had 

 been carried to as great perfection here as anywhere else in the world, 

 and that all known refinements of graphic illustration are within their 

 reach. 



All the volumes of the " Report of the Fortieth Parallel Survey," 

 except Vol. I., have been more or less thoroughly reviewed in the sci- 

 entific journals, and it is therefore unnecessary that they should receive 

 further notice here. It is but just, however, to say of the general char- 

 acter of the report of Mr. King, now for the first time collectively ex- 

 hibited, that it takes high rank in the literature of the subjects which 

 it considers, and is most creditable to the chief under whose direction 

 the work here recorded was executed, and to his assistants, both for 

 the great amount and excellent quality of that work, and from the 

 good taste and care which the volumes and maps display. 



Perhaps no other geologist has enjoyed the opportunity of direct- 

 ing the exploration of so wide and interesting a field, has been so inde- 

 pendent and untrammeled in his action, and has had such resources 

 at his command as Mr. King ; and something of his success should be 

 ascribed to his good fortune. Yet it is true that he has made excellent 

 use of his exceptional opportunities, and the result can not in justice 

 but be regarded as alike honorable to him, to the War Department 

 under whose auspices the survey was made, and to the country. 



In the volume just issued Mr. King has discussed the exposures of 

 all the different systems of rocks which form the geological column, 

 beginning with the Archaean and ending with the Quaternary. He 

 then takes up the volcanic rocks, of which there is such an immense 

 display in the western part of his field, and discusses their relations, 

 succession, and classification. His last chapter is devoted to orog- 

 raphy, and is a study of the different and very numerous mountain 

 chains and axes of elevation which occupy so much of the region he 

 has studied. In the progress of this review he has not only made great 

 and important additions to what was before known of the distribution 

 and development of the different geological formations throughout the 

 West, but has subjected each group of rocks and each important topo- 

 graphical feature to close and careful study, with the view of evolving 

 from its ascertained structure the details of its history. In these in- 

 vestigations he has touched upon some of the most profound problems 

 that have engaged the attention of geologists and physicists ; and 

 while we can not assert, and he will hardly claim, that all the conclu- 

 sions he has reached will be confirmed by further observation and 

 mathematical analysis for all human work is imperfect yet it can 

 not be denied that the facts he has reported and the inductions he has 



VOL. XV. 20 



