§0 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



Work of Prof. W. M. Fontaine. — Prof. W. M. Fontaine during the 

 summer examined the Tertiary strata of Eastern Virginia, especially 

 near Richmond, making collections of fossil plants. He has prepared 

 drawings of many of the specimens collected. He is also engaged iD 

 the preparation of a memoir on the older Mesozoic plants of Virginia. 



C hemic Work. 



Prior to the fall of 18S3 the chemical work of the Survey was done 

 at various laboratories scattered through the country, and at the field 

 laboratories in Denver, Salt Lake, and San Francisco. With the re- 

 moval of the headquarters of the division of the Great Basin to Wash- 

 ington the field laboratory at Salt Lake City was abandoned, but work 

 is still carried on at the others. With the appointment of Prof. F. W. 

 Clarke as chief chemist of the Survey a laboratory was organized at 

 Washington, in rooms furnished by the United States National Museum, 

 where work has been begun on analyses of waters and various speci- 

 mens brought iu by the various field parties. 



Professor Clarke, during the summer, made several mineralogical 

 field trips and secured abundant material for future investigation. 



In the laboratory at Denver Mr. Hillebrand has been making analyses 

 of a number of minerals new to Colorado, and has been examining the 

 various igneous rocks collected during the summer in the district of 

 the Rocky Mountains. Dr. Melville, at San Francisco, has been doing 

 similar work for the division of the Pacific. 



A laboratory for physical research will probably be established in 

 connection with the chemical division at Washington. This work has 

 been carried on at the physical laboratory at New Haven by Dr. Carl 

 Barus and Dr. William Hallock, who have been conducting experiments 

 as to the exact measurement of exceedingly high temperatures. 



Economic Work. 



Statistics of Mineral Resources. — In accordance with an act passed by 

 the Forty-seventh Congress, the Geological Survey was charged with 

 the duty of reporting upon the present condition of the mining indus- 

 tries other than those of gold and silver. This work is in the charge 

 of Mr. Albert Williams, jr., chief of the division of mining statistics 

 and technology, whose first report, entitled the "Mineral Resources of 

 the United States," an octavo of some 800 pages, was issued in October. 

 This report contains the statistics of the metallic and mineral produc- 

 tion of the country for 1882 and the first six months of 1883, besides 

 the figures for preceding years, descriptions of localities, metallurgical 

 papers, and such information as seems important from a practical and 

 industrial point of view. The statistical work of the Survey thus supple- 

 ments its purely scientific investigations, and, while it is the first attempt 

 of the kind, has met with a gratifying public interest. Mr. Williams 



