80 McGEE MEMORIAL MEETING 



ated the broad problems of stratigraphic continuity and succession, 

 of continental elevation and depression, and he set about their solu- 

 tion. His work was distinctly constructive, and as such finds a per- 

 manent place in American geologic history. While certain of his con- 

 clusions, as is almost inevitable in pioneer work, have been modified 

 or revised, the broad fundamental generalizations remain as an 

 essential basis for later students. 



After an interval of a dozen years or more following the close of his 

 studies on Coastal Plain geology, during which his attention was 

 mainly occupied in the field of ethnology, Doctor McGee again re- 

 turned to the consideration of certain collateral geologic problems. 

 It had come to be the fancy in certain quarters that the removal of the 

 forest or vegetal covering had little or no influence on the run-off of 

 surface waters. His report on "Soil Erosion," published as a bulle- 

 tin of the Bureau of Soils in the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, is a complete and graphic refutation if such were really needed 

 of this contention. His last work, completed less than a month 

 before his death, and also published as a bulletin of the Bureau of 

 Soils, is an elaborate study of subsoil water and its essential relation 

 to agriculture. 



Of his anthropological and ethnological work only the briefest men- 

 tion may be made here. While much of his time was given to admin- 

 istrative work, he nevertheless found opportunity for a number of 

 studies, perhaps the most notable being a study of the Seri Indians, a 

 fierce previously unstudied tribe inhabiting certain islands off the 

 coast of Lower California. 



Doctor McGee did much for the Geological Society of America. He 

 was one of its founders and served for four years as its editor, estab- 

 lishing the Bulletin, its official publication, on the high plane it 

 then and has since maintained. His constant attendance at the 

 meetings during the earlier years of the Society's existence will be re- 

 called, as well as his contributions to many notable discussions of 

 geologic problems. 



W J McGee was a man of commanding presence, one who would 

 attract attention in whatever assemblage he might find himself. Al- 

 though seemingly somewhat formal in address to those not intimately 

 acquainted with him, he was, nevertheless, a man of cordial sympa- 



