20 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 



committees in charge of large structures. Among these may be men- 

 tioned the St. Albans Cathedral in Washington ; the new City Hall in 

 New York City ; the New National Museum ; the City Post Office, 

 and other post office buildings ; the State Library at Hartford, Conn. ; 

 and the columns on the east front of the Treasury building. 



Resurvey of the petrified forests. — During the season of 1911, the 

 Head Curator was detailed, at the request of the Commissioner of 

 Public Lands to make a resurvey of the territory included in the 

 Petrified Forest National Monument with a view of reducing its 

 limits so far as practicable. The work was accomplished under the 

 joint auspices of the Smithsonian Institution and the Land Office, as-^ 

 sisted by an outfit furnished by the Santa Fe Railroad, whose prop- 

 erty was in part involved. The resurvey resulted in a reduction of the 

 total area of 40/^ square miles without^^ detriment, and the turning 

 back of the remainder to the original owners. 



Petrographical work in Montana. — During the field seasons of 

 1907 and 1908, Dr. Merrill, at the request of Dr. A. C. Peale of the 

 U. S. Geological Survey, was detailed to accompany him into the 

 field for the purpose of identifying and otherwise studying the erup- 

 tive rocks within the area known as the Three ^orks Sheet, all ex- 

 penses aside from salary being borne by the Survey. 



Studies of the so-called Meteor Crater of Arizona. — During the 

 summer of 1907, the Head Curator was detailed in accordance with 

 an invitation from the Standard Iron Company of Philadelphia to 

 make studies of the remarkable crater form depression near Canyon 

 Diablo. The expenses on the ground were paid by the Iron Com- 

 pany, and all the necessary facilities and materials furnished. The 

 results were published in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 

 vol. 50, 1908. 



Mineralogical Services during the late War. — In the course of ex- 

 perimental -work being carried on by the Navy, particularly along 

 lines involving the piezo electric properties of minerals, there early 

 arose an emphatic demand for the mineral quartz in sizes and quali- 

 ties not then obtainable from dealers. The collections of the de- 

 partment of Geology were practically drained of such minerals in the 

 furtherance of this and other experimental work, and the Head 

 Curator was therefore detailed to secure a sufficient supply of the 

 needed material, not only for the U. S. Government, but for Great 

 Britain and France as well. The search was actively and success- 

 fully carried on until the close of the war. 



Cambrian and Ordovician Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Vir- 

 ginia: — The study of the great Cambro-Ordovician limestone series 



