332 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1933 



seen. On the middle terrace, about 90 feet above sea level, is built a 

 considerable part of Washington, including the Capitol. The most 

 recent terrace, which is at very few places more than 40 feet above 

 sea level, and the lowest, geologically speaking, contains the long 

 line of public buildings from the National Museum to the Monument. 

 In our own time a terrace is in process of formation at the present 

 level of the Potomac by the gradual deposit of its mud and gravel. 



In addition to all these natural geologic phenomena exhibited in 

 or near Washington, there are other circumstances which make the 

 Capital City unique in the advantages afforded geology students and 

 research workers. The various scientific bureaus of the Government : 

 The United States Geological Survey, Smithsonian Institution, Geo- 

 physical Laboratory, Bureau of Standards, Carnegie Institution, and 

 others afford most exceptional opportunities for the student of geol- 

 ogy, as indeed for students of all sciences. And perhaps in no other 

 place are there the library facilities which Washington offers. The 

 Congressional Library with its many thousands of scientific volumes, 

 so necessary to research workers, cannot be duplicated elsewhere. 

 Finally there is the National Museum, whose scientists through many 

 years of effort have collected and classified vast amounts of geologic 

 material. Minerals and rocks of all kinds, and fossils from the 

 oldest to the most recent, ranging in size from microscopic diatoms 

 to huge reptiles 80 feet long, are on display and for study by those 

 who seek a better understanding of earth history. 



Is it, then, any wonder that here at Washington, where both nature 

 and man have contributed to make conditions ideal for him, the 

 geologist finds a paradise? 



