SCIENCE IN POLITICS. 579 



Department, attends to the proper illumination of our coasts and 

 rivers. One research of Joseph Henry's upon the oils used for light- 

 house lamps saved the Government hundreds of thousands of dollars ; 

 and, to-day, the application of the electric light to coast illumination 

 calls for the most careful consideration of scientific experts. The De- 

 partment of Agriculture also does much in the application of scientific 

 research to the assistance of great industries. It investigates the wast- 

 ing of our forests, determines the conditions favorable to crops, con- 

 ducts experiments upon sorghum, studies the plagues which ravage 

 our flocks and herds, and seeks for methods of exterminating insect 

 pests, such as the locust, the cotton-worm, or the potato-beetle. It 

 employs chemists, botanists, entomologists, microscopists, and veteri- 

 nary surgeons ; and their labors can not but be fruitful of much good. 

 Like it in aim, though working in a different direction, is the younger 

 Fish Commission, which restocks our depleted waters, investigates the 

 habits and food of fishes and the best modes of preventing their 

 extermination, and literally creates new sources of wealth for the 

 people. 



Under the Treasury Department, in addition to the Lighthouse 

 Board, are several other bureaus which depend more or less upon sci- 

 ence. The Mint and Assay Offices, for example, have much to do with 

 chemistry ; and, to a certain extent, with physical problems also. The 

 Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which manufactures our national 

 bonds and notes, often has need of assistance from scientific experts ; 

 and so too have the custom-houses in the settlement of questions rela- 

 tive to certain duties. The Coast and Geodetic Survey, which is al- 

 most purely scientific in character, not only maps our coast-line with 

 the utmost accuracy, but also furnishes the primary triangulation of 

 the interior. This triangulation is the basis for all accurate mapping 

 of the several States, and is done by men of the highest scientific train- 

 ing. An error in the boundary-line between two States may throw 

 doubt upon the transfer, taxation, or inheritance of real property ; or, 

 by calling in question the jurisdiction of a court over disputed territo- 

 ries, it may defeat the ends of justice. Hitherto, when such doubts 

 have arisen concerning State boundaries, the United States Govern- 

 ment, represented by the Coast Survey, has been the arbiter. This 

 survey also controls our magnetic observatories, in which the varia- 

 tions of the needle are recorded, and has custody of the standard 

 weights and measures. The latter duty is one of the utmost impor- 

 tance, and involves the use of the most delicate instruments of pre- 

 cision. 



The Geological Survey is under the Interior Department, and has 

 several functions. It determines the geological structure of the coun- 

 try, joining and completing the scattered details of the several State 

 surveys, develops more fully the principles of geologic science ; and, 

 from an economic point of view, investigates our mineral resources. 



