180 EDITORIAL 



ment has responded cordially to that request. Mr. Bailey Willis 

 has accordingly entered into a contract for the term of two years, 

 to execute topographical and geological surveys for the specific 

 purpose of ascertaining artesian water possibilities in those districts 

 which the minister may designate. With him are associated Mr. 

 Chester W. Washburne of the United States Survey, Mr. J. R. 

 Pemberton of Stanford University, and Mr. Wellington D. Jones 

 of the University of Chicago, as geologists, and Mr. C. L. Nelson 

 and Mr. W. B. Lewis as topographers, and the party has recently 

 sailed for Argentina to enter upon the work. While these surveys 

 have a specific purpose, their possibilities of usefulness in develop- 

 ing the natural resources and encouraging settlement in the regions 

 surveyed will not be overlooked, and the work will be founded on 

 those scientific studies upon which alone practical conclusions 

 can safely rest. Thus it is hoped that a definite contribution to 

 knowledge in geography and geology may be made. 



It is desirable to point out that the Argentine government has 

 a geological survey which has been in existence since 1903 in its 

 present organization and which dates back half a century as a 

 bureau of mines. It is under the direction of Sehor E. M. Her- 

 mitte, who is assisted by Messrs. Bodenbender, Keidel, and Schil- 

 ler, three German geologists who have done excellent stratigraphic 

 and paleontologic work, particularly in districts of the central 

 Argentine Andes. They have unfortunately not been supplied 

 with maps. The established Bureau of Mines, Geology, and 

 Hydrology is under the Minister of Agriculture. The surveys 

 which are about to be made are undertaken by the Minister of 

 Public Works. The two operations are thus officially distinct, 

 but it is hoped and anticipated that they may be mutually helpful. 



B. W. 



