138 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 734 



and yet the absolute losses they occasioned 

 were so small as to have little influence on 

 the totals used in the computation. 



On the whole, weighing these and other 

 factors of the problem as well as I am able, 

 I am disposed to adhere to the estimate, 

 not, indeed, claiming for it a high measure 

 of precision, but regarding it as a fair 

 approximation to the truth, and possibly 

 as good as may be derived from the avail- 

 able facts. 



It is needless to carry further the dis- 

 cussion of insurance rates. Its purpose 

 has been served in showing that the earth- 

 quake risk to buildings in California is 

 comparable with the fire risk and equally 

 worthy of serious consideration. There 

 is no present question of earthquake in- 

 surance, of which the function would be 

 merely to distribute earthquake losses, but 

 there is a question of the prevention of 

 earthquake damage. 



Earthquake damage is at least as pre- 

 ventable as fire damage. It is possible so 

 to construct houses that they wiU neither 

 collapse nor otherwise be vitally injured 

 by such shocks as have visited California 

 in the past. In a house so built there will 

 be small danger from earthquake-started 

 fires because they will be both accessible 

 and quickly detected. It is wreckage that 

 prevents the prompt extinguishment of the 

 initial blaze. In a house so built there 

 Avill be little damage to furniture, mer- 

 chandise and other valuable contents. 

 "With houses so built the life risk will be- 

 come a vanishing quantity, for practically 

 all earthquake casualties are directly due 

 to the failure of buildings. And in a 

 community thus protected in life and 

 property the terror of the mysterious un- 

 heralded temblor— a factor far outweigh- 

 ing the actual personal peril — will gradu- 

 ally wear away. 



In saying that earthquake damage is 

 preventable I would not be understood to 



imply that the subject of earthquake-proof 

 construction is at all adequately developed. 

 Competent modes of construction are 

 known, but the best modes, the most eco- 

 nomic modes, the modes best adapted to 

 American materials and conditions remain 

 to be determined, and there is much need 

 of investigation. 



It should be the policy of the people and 

 state of California to see that the neces- 

 sary investigations are made, and that the 

 results are embodied in the building regu- 

 lations of all cities as well as in the entire 

 building practise of the state. And, in 

 order that the methods of construction 

 may be properly adjusted to the very un- 

 equal local requirements, provision should 

 be made for a seismic survey and the 

 mapping of tracts of special earthquake 

 danger. 



G. K. Gilbert 



JEAN ALBERT GAUDBY^ 

 From time to time as honored chieftains 

 fall in the front ranks of the world's intel- 

 lectual forces that are making for scientific 

 progress, and bent on the conquest of new 

 realms of knowledge, it befits men of a younger 

 generation to take note of the passing of these 

 heroes, these veteran standard-bearers who now 

 rest from their labors, leaving a splendid 

 memorial of their lif ework behind them. Upon 

 such occasions it is well to call to mind some 

 of the more notable achievements of these 

 patient searchers after truth, and to bethink 

 ourselves what manner of men were they who 

 contributed largely to widening the bounds of 

 human understanding, whose lives were conse- 

 crated to the service of the sovereign mistress 

 of truth. 



An occasion of this kind has recently befallen 

 us. Geological and biological science mourn 

 the loss of Professor Albert Gaudry, foremost 

 of the modern school of French paleontologists, 

 a man of remarkable and versatile talents, in- 

 ^ Presented before the American Society of Ver- 

 tebrate Paleontologists at the Baltimore meeting, 

 December 30, 1908. 



