﻿352 
  JOURNAIy 
  OF 
  THE 
  WASHINGTON 
  ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES 
  VOL,. 
  12, 
  NO. 
  15 
  

  

  basins, 
  and 
  timed 
  the 
  avalanches 
  in 
  the 
  uppermost 
  cirques? 
  One 
  

   can 
  imagine 
  a 
  philosophical 
  old 
  prospector 
  resident 
  there, 
  who 
  knows 
  

   more 
  of 
  the 
  living 
  forces 
  that 
  build 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains 
  than 
  any 
  

   visitor. 
  Not 
  only 
  must 
  he 
  who 
  would 
  be 
  Master 
  of 
  the 
  Mountain 
  

   dwell 
  there, 
  like 
  Seraphita 
  amid 
  her 
  fjords, 
  but 
  he 
  must 
  work 
  there 
  

   and 
  make 
  lifelong 
  measurements 
  of 
  change, 
  until 
  his 
  faith 
  has 
  truly 
  

   made 
  the 
  mountain 
  move. 
  

  

  Anyone 
  who 
  has 
  spent 
  summers 
  with 
  pack-train 
  in 
  a 
  place 
  like 
  the 
  

   Yellowstone 
  comes 
  to 
  know 
  the 
  land 
  to 
  be 
  leaping. 
  All 
  night 
  in 
  camp 
  

   9000 
  feet 
  above 
  sea-level 
  one 
  hears 
  the 
  rocks 
  from 
  the 
  precipice 
  tin- 
  

   kling, 
  sliding, 
  crashing. 
  A 
  glacier 
  booms 
  through 
  a 
  deep 
  crevasse. 
  

   The 
  milky 
  stream 
  carries 
  off 
  powdered 
  rock 
  by 
  tons. 
  A 
  geyser 
  terrace 
  

   is 
  hot, 
  expanded; 
  a 
  neighboring 
  summit 
  is 
  snow-clad, 
  contracted. 
  

   A 
  herd 
  of 
  elk 
  bounds 
  up 
  the 
  slope 
  with 
  a 
  clatter 
  of 
  rocks 
  disturbed; 
  

   every 
  stone 
  has 
  been 
  impelled 
  nearer 
  to 
  sea-level. 
  We 
  hear 
  much 
  

   talk 
  of 
  water 
  erosion 
  ; 
  this 
  is 
  a 
  land 
  where 
  tumbling 
  and 
  sliding 
  do 
  just 
  

   as 
  much 
  as 
  water. 
  The 
  mountains 
  are 
  falling 
  all 
  the 
  time 
  and 
  by 
  

   millions 
  of 
  tons. 
  Something 
  underground 
  is 
  shoving 
  them 
  up. 
  Occa- 
  

   sionally 
  there 
  is 
  the 
  whirlwind 
  crash 
  of 
  a 
  whole 
  mountain-side, 
  like 
  

   the 
  disaster 
  at 
  the 
  mining 
  village 
  of 
  Frank, 
  Alberta. 
  How 
  many 
  

   scores 
  of 
  similar 
  slides 
  occur 
  in 
  lonely 
  places 
  where 
  no 
  one 
  even 
  hears 
  

   the 
  noise? 
  And 
  how 
  often? 
  How 
  much 
  is 
  the 
  ground 
  tilting? 
  The 
  

   genius 
  who 
  finances 
  and 
  mans 
  the 
  first 
  mountain 
  observatory 
  will 
  

   found 
  a 
  new 
  science. 
  Similarly 
  we 
  may 
  imagine 
  shore-line, 
  glacier, 
  

   desert, 
  and 
  sea-bottom 
  observatories, 
  ever 
  inventing 
  new 
  instruments 
  

   and 
  revealing 
  an 
  unknown 
  world. 
  

  

  Physical 
  chemistry 
  has 
  worked 
  wonders 
  by 
  synthesis 
  in 
  the 
  labora- 
  

   tory, 
  exploring 
  rigorously 
  a 
  wide 
  range 
  of 
  saturations, 
  temperatures 
  

   and 
  pressures. 
  There 
  is 
  needed 
  direct 
  comparison 
  of 
  these 
  results 
  

   with 
  the 
  complex 
  analyses 
  and 
  syntheses 
  which 
  nature 
  is 
  always 
  

   achieving. 
  The 
  comparison 
  with 
  mineral 
  specimens 
  studied 
  in 
  the 
  

   polarizing 
  microscope 
  has 
  been 
  useful, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  enough. 
  The 
  

   astrophysicist 
  never 
  contents 
  himself 
  with 
  a 
  meteorite. 
  Invention 
  

   of 
  field 
  methods 
  in 
  geophysics 
  is 
  not 
  keeping 
  pace 
  with 
  laboratory 
  

   skill. 
  In 
  contrast 
  to 
  the 
  ultimates 
  of 
  modern 
  physical 
  research, 
  the 
  

   processes 
  of 
  the 
  middle 
  ground 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  motion 
  of 
  Tyndall's 
  glaciers 
  

   and 
  the 
  submarine 
  subsidence 
  postulated 
  by 
  Darwin 
  are 
  worthy 
  of 
  

   permanent 
  stations, 
  large 
  staffs 
  of 
  specialists, 
  big 
  instruments, 
  and 
  

   endless 
  refinement 
  of 
  measurement. 
  The 
  workers 
  should 
  live 
  and 
  die 
  

   in 
  their 
  chosen 
  field, 
  they 
  should 
  create 
  their 
  own 
  social 
  group,. 
  

  

  