The history of the relations between the coastal belt and the ocean 
includes a field of many unsolved problems. The processes that have 
determined the shore line and the present configuration of the 1mme- 
diate coast, the origin of the submarine and off-shore features of the 
land and the sequence of the movements and changes that have pro- 
duced them, these most interesting subjects have not as yet been care- 
fully studied and the numerous questions to which their consideration 
gives rise can only be answered now in terms of possibilities. 
Lastly may be mentioned the excellent field that exists for the 
study of forms and products of arid erosion and weathering—a study 
that has excited considerable interest in recent years, but yet one in 
which much remains to be done. All three belts would yield material 
for this study. 
I can only hope that with the encouragement and cooperation of the 
San Diego Society of Natural History, and inspired by the zeal for re- 
search displayed by the small but earnest group of workers at the 
Scripps Institution for Biological Research, a number of serious stu- 
dents may become interested in the rich, and but slightly cultivated, 
field for geological investigation offered by the land and sea surround- 
ings of San Diego. 
