PROCEEDINGS: GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY 383 



dation of the accumulated facts through advances in philosophic in- 

 terpretation. The accumulation of facts usually far outruns their in- 

 terpretation. Stratigraphic paleontology cannot be divorced from 

 biological paleontology without becoming sterile. Hisotorical geology 

 is the idea we strive for. Loosely drawn genera and species are no 

 longer useful. Progress depends on research. True research does not 

 depend on subject matter but on method. I would wish to depreciate 

 the tendency, rampant throughout the world, to seek a justification for 

 research as a means towards some economic end. If the elucidation of 

 each history and the origin and evolution of life on the globe are not 

 of prime importance as ends in themselves; if the whence, and the why, 

 and the whither are not supreme, then indeed has our lot fallen among 

 evil days. I venture to hope that research will increase in both quality 

 and amount, and that the day will speedily arrive when a first rate 

 paleontologist can command a fair income in the successful practice 

 of his profession. 



E. T. Wherry: Some practical applications of crystallography. — 

 This paper comprised illustrations of the application of petrographic 

 methods to certain chemical problems, including the identification in 

 foods of crystalline substances, such as magnesium ammonium phos- 

 phate which had been mistaken for glass; the control of the manufac- 

 ture of explosives and dyes by optical study of their crystals; and the 

 recognition of the nature of a peculiar type of crystallization in honey. 

 It was illustrated by lantern slides made from photomicrographs. 



The 335th meeting of the Society was held in the Auditorium of the 

 Cosmos Club on Wednesday,April 23, 1919, at 8.00 p. m. 



Program 



G. W. Stose: Manganese deposits of the Appalachian Valley of 

 Virginia and Tennessee. — ^The manganese deposits of the Appalachian 

 Valley lie chiefly along its eastern border, but some occur within the 

 open valley, and others among the ridges on the western side. The 

 deposits are chiefly replacement deposits in clay and sand residual 

 from disintegrated limestone and calcareous sandstone, and 10 differ- 

 ent modes of occurrence have been observed. Eight of these are asso- 

 ciated with specific, geologic horizons, which range from earliest Cam- 

 brian to the Carboniferous. Other deposits are along fault planes 

 and in terraced stream gravels. Only i of the deposits is a carbonate 

 ore, which replaces dolomite and slate. 



The conclusions reached are that: i, the localization of the deposits 

 at certain horizons, is due to their derivation from certain sedimentary 

 beds which were somewhat richer in manganese than sediments gen- 

 erally; 2, these richer zones occur at the base of formations and some 

 are associated with glauconite, phosphate, eolean sand grains, and 

 other detritus accompanying land waste at unconformities; 3, the 

 original mineral was probably a carbonate of manganese, calcium, and 

 iron; 4, the ores were concentrated by the solution of the original dis- 

 seminated mineral, by meteoric waters, and redeposition in porous 



