APPENDIX IV. 



REPORT OF CHARLES SCHUCHERT, DELEGATE OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITU- 

 TION AND U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM TO THE NINTH INTERNATIONAL GEO- 

 LOGICAL CONGRESS, HELD AT VIENNA, AUSTRIA, AUGUST 20-27, 1903. 



The congress held its first meeting on August 20 in the festsalle of the Vienna 

 University, and all the subsequent meetings were held in this large and handsome 

 building. The opening gathering was a festal one, and the addresses of welcome 

 were made by the protector of the congress, Erzherzog Rainer, and by the honorary 

 president, Dr. von Hartel. Prorektor Hofrat Dr. Schipper greeted the congress for 

 the university, and Vizeburgemeister Strobach for the city of Vienna. The president 

 of the congress, director of the Royal Geological Institute of Austria, called atten- 

 tion to the great variety of geological structures and formations within the Austrian 

 Empire, invited all to join the excursions, and thus to learn by practical means 

 what the Austrian geologists had to offer. The routine work of the congress largely 

 devolved upon the general secretary, Prof. Dr. Diener, of the university. 



The social side of the congress, of course, could not be other than kindly, due to 

 the well-known hospitality of Austrians, and especially of the citizens of the beautiful 

 city of Vienna. On the evening of the 24th of August the congress was invited to a 

 reception and banquet in the grand rathause by Herr Strobach, assisted by Dr. 

 Neumayer. About 500 ladies and gentlemen participated. 



The congress was a success, as 355 members were in attendance out of 640 that had 

 registered. North America was represented by 1 from Mexico, 2 from Canada, and 

 22 from the United States. The standard of the papers presented was high. One 

 day was occupied by seven speakers from various parts of the world in presenting 

 a synopsis of our present knowledge of the crystalline rocks. Our countryman, C. R. 

 Van Hise, took a leading part in this presentation. Another day was devoted to 

 "Faults and Cliffs," one of the speakers being Mr. Bailey Willis, of the U. S. Geo- 

 logical Survey, who presented a paper entitled "On the overthrust faults of North 

 America." A timely and well-illustrated presentation was that of Dr. E. O. Hovey 

 on "The 1902 eruptions of La Pelee, Martinique, and La Souffriere, St. Vincent." 

 Another day was devoted to a presentation of the geology of the Balkan Peninsula 

 and the Orient. The scientific meetings were on alternate days, the intermediate 

 ones being occupied by excursions to noted places of geologic interest around Vienna. 

 These one-day excursions were necessarily made hurriedly and were intended to 

 acquaint the visitors with some of the broader structures, of which Austria has so 

 large a variety. 



At Vienna a paleontologist finds much to interest him, not only in the beautiful 

 and well-ordered museum and through coming in contact with many able scientific 

 men, but also from a study of the great collections. If one wishes to examine 

 Austrian fossils from the provincial or stratigraphic side, he will find the Geologische 

 Reichsanstalt in Rasumoffskygasse full of interest. For general paleontology there 

 are the splendid collections of the Naturhistorische Hofmuseum, and of paleobiology 

 at the Paleontological Institute of the University. 



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