February 7, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



209 



principles controlling the widely varied 

 modes of occiirrence and accounting for 

 the differences in kinds of the oils in widely 

 separated regions are possibly still far 

 from view. 



On account of the more conservative and 

 dignified character of the official publica- 

 tions of the Survey and the care taken to 

 confine their substance to matters of demon- 

 strated fact, they do not offer to the geol- 

 ogist the forum for free discussion of scien- 

 tific theories and problems that are afforded 

 by those periodicals and serial publications 

 of scientific societies which are especially 

 devoted to matters of strictly professional 

 interest and which are more widely distri- 

 buted among scientists. For this reason 

 many of the scientific results of the Sur- 

 vey's operations are first published in these 

 journals. Examples of papers of high 

 rank contributed in this way are numerous. 

 Without implying relative merit among 

 these, mention as typical may be made of 

 the paper by Mr. Campbell, "Historical 

 Eeview of Theories Advanced by American 

 Geologists to Account for the Origin and 

 Accumulation of Soil," published in Eco- 

 nomic Geology, Vol. 6, No. 4, and that by 

 Mr. Ulrich, entitled ' ' Revision of the Paleo- 

 zoic Systems," printed in the Bulletin of 

 the Geological Society of America, Vol. 22, 

 No. 3. Besides contributing to the pro- 

 grams of other scientific societies in Wash- 

 ington, the members of the Survey main- 

 tain for the discussion of purely geologic 

 topics three professional societies, includ- 

 ing the Geological Society of Washington, 

 before which Mr. Campbell's paper, just 

 cited, was presented as a presidential ad- 

 dress. Meeting-s of some one of these so- 

 cieties or of their sections average two a 

 week for the winter and by far the greater 

 number of the papers read are offered by 

 members of the Survey. 



EDUCATIONAL WORK OP THE SURVEY 



Closely connected with the scientific 

 work of the Survey is its educational func- 

 tion, which has not, on the whole, received 

 the attention that so importantly useful a 

 work deserves. The Survey has, however, 

 in cooperation with several state surveys, 

 participated in the preparation of a num- 

 ber of educational bulletins that have, in 

 accordance with the agreements, been sub- 

 mitted to the respective states for publica- 

 tion. As distinctly educational in their 

 scope, though far from elementary, should 

 be named the valuable paper by Mr. Willis, 

 entitled "Index to the Stratigraphy of 

 North America," published as a profes- 

 sional paper in explanation of the new geo- 

 logic map of the continent, and the paper 

 by Messrs. Tarr and Martin, describing the 

 earthquake phenomena in the region of 

 Yakutat Bay, Alaska. 



A notable contribution to the study of 

 physiography was the Survey's Profes- 

 sional Paper 60, "The Interpretation of 

 Topographic Maps," by R. D. Salisbury 

 and W. W. Atwood, consisting chiefly of 

 reprints of parts of the Survey's maps and 

 of brief suggestions as to the origin and 

 history of the features shown on them. 

 For many years the topographic maps made 

 by the Sui'vey have been regularly used in 

 the courses of instruction in geography and 

 physiography in most of the universities 

 and colleges and to some extent in the sec- 

 ondary schools. It is very gratifying to 

 note that the maps prepared in accordance 

 with the present high standard, and more 

 fully adapted to such use, are coming to 

 the attention of teachers in the graded and 

 country schools. Teachers of schools lo- 

 cated in the quadrangles surveyed in re- 

 cent years find the coiTesponding topo- 

 graphic sheets a most practical and invalu- 

 able aid to their efficiency and success in 

 teaching elementary geography. 



