November 17, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



703 



outcrops in many areas where erosion has worn 

 through the ancient cover, and whose intrusive 

 history covers a long period of time in the 

 upper Paleozoic. 



The age relations of the Quincy succession 

 are limited by the facts that the igneous rock 

 cuts the Cambrian sediments and is covered by 

 Carboniferous conglomerates which rest upon 

 the eroded surface of the porphyry. The age 

 is regarded by the leaders as probably Devo- 

 nian or Mississippian. 



In the unavoidable absence of the permanent 

 secretary, Professor Cleland, this record of 

 the excursion is made at his request by the 

 secretary pro tern. 



Joseph Barrell 



Yale University 



CLEVELAND ABBE 



It fell to the lot of this modest man, a 

 distinguished representative of American sci- 

 ence, to initiate the national systems of 

 weather forecasting which are to-day main- 

 tained by nearly every civilized nation of im- 

 portance. With the science of meteorology 

 Abbe's name will be associated through the 

 coming ages. 



With the death of Cleveland Abbe, chief 

 meteorologist of the United States Weather 

 Bureau, terminated the original phase of na- 

 tional meteorological work in America, for he 

 was the sole surviving active official of the 

 bureau in which he had served forty-six years. 



As one of his associates, I accepted the in- 

 vitation of Science to pay a tribute to his 

 memory, which adheres to personal relations, 

 and not to the evolution of that great idea 

 which took possession of his soul in the small 

 astronomical observatory in Cincinnati, an 

 idea which was to blossom forth in practical 

 form throughout the world. 



When in 1870, at the invitation of Chief 

 Signal Officer A. J. Myer, Abbe entered the 

 signal office of the army to undertake the work 

 of predicting the weather of the United States, 

 he found his position and his duties most 

 onerous and embarrassing. The environment 

 was military, and the young officers had been 

 drafted into scientific work that was tentative 



and unknown. Besides initiating a novel serv- 

 ice Abbe was to cooperate with civilian scien- 

 tists and to train in the new work officers fresh 

 from the western frontier, from the military 

 academy and from remote artillery seacoast 

 stations. He entered on these manifold duties 

 with the same equanimity and devotion as had 

 marked his astronomical work in Russia and 

 at home. The original scientific force engaged 

 in weather and flood forecasts were nine in 

 number. Besides the civilians, Abbe, T. B. 

 Maury and William Ferrel, there were Chief 

 Signal Officer A. J. Myer, Lieutenants B. 

 Craig, H. H. C. Dunwoody, A. W. Greely, 

 C. E. Kilbourne and J. P. Story. All are 

 dead except Craig, Dunwoody and Greely, who 

 are on the retired list of the army. 



Through all the changes, from military to 

 civic control, from one weather bureau chief 

 to another, Abbe continued steadily at his scien- 

 tific work under six separate administrative 

 chiefs, active along lines of study and research 

 to the last. It is interesting to note that the 

 scientific bodies of the country have not con- 

 tributed more than half a dozen officials of 

 prominence to the bureau — though it has been 

 under civil control 26 years — to the present 

 force which has grown up under lines initiated 

 by the practicality of Myer and the theories 

 of Abbe. 



During twenty years of his service I was 

 intimately associated with Abbe as his sub- 

 ordinate and pupil, as a coworker, and as his 

 administrative chief. During this term of 

 years there inevitably developed situations 

 which were complex, annoying and embarrass- 

 ing to the scientific force. Yet in all such 

 conditions I never knew him to display bad 

 temper, to unduly prolong discussions, to ad- 

 vance personal interests, nor to abate his most 

 strenuous efforts to carry out such policies as 

 were judged needful for the good of the serv- 

 ice — even though they had not originally met 

 with his approval. 



As a student in various subjects, such as 

 light, heat, meteorology, etc., as a lieutenant 

 I taxed for months his amiability and temper, 

 for his very serious and methodical methods 

 often excited my amusement and led to jocose 



