174 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 919 



long or short, was a well-known fact long be- 

 fore the development of the coastal oil fields. 

 That the coastal plain contained structural 

 irregularities — as at Sulphur — was early dis- 

 cussed by Hilgard, as all students of Louisiana 

 geology must admit. The idea was tempo- 

 rarily discounted by some subsequent writers 

 who saw no signs of structural complications 

 at the surface. The drill has settled all this. 

 What the nature or origin of such irregu- 

 larities really was as hinted at by Captain 

 Lucas in the expression "nascent dome 

 theory" we have little from his pen to indi- 

 cate. Some said afterwards that his ideas 

 were thus and so; even the Captain seems 

 now to prefer to quote from these sources 

 rather than from contemporary statements 

 of his own. However, to Captain Lucas be- 

 longs the credit of not only believing that 

 something worth while was under Spindle- 

 top (as Higgins did ten years before) but of 

 influencing capital to go in with him in ma- 

 king a thorough test (for sulphur?). 



In studying the geology of the coastal plain 

 for some ten or a dozen years the writer has had 

 occasion not only to learn what others have 

 thought as to the origin of those remarkable 

 coastal structures, but to make observations and 

 collections in the field for himself. He too has 

 proposed a "nascent" or at least an embry- 

 onic dome theory (not claiming it as "the 

 dome theory") whereby the "movement 

 upwards of huge masses of rock salt," etc., 

 must produce structures, not only of the well- 

 known inverted saucer-shape at top, but of 

 upturned, pinched out, slickensided beds 

 along their flanks. All these when there is an 

 alternation of pervious and impervious beds 

 may aid in oil concentration. Lateral or 

 flank oil, in contradistinction to crest oil as 

 at Beaumont, is well known at Anse-la-Butte, 

 Vinton and now at Pine Prairie and doubtless 

 occurs in paying quantities at Belle Isle, 

 Sulphur and many other domes. The insist- 

 ence by the writer on the proper locations for 

 oil in the "flank" condition is what the di- 

 rector of the Myles Mineral Co. had in mind 

 when he wrote : 



I consider this a most remarkable vindication 

 of a theory originated by you and we attribute a 

 large measure of success thus far to your advice. 



With all the above facts in mind the under- 

 signed still sees no harm in referring to the 

 workings of his own dome theory, provided he 

 labels it as such — as he did. Nor can he see 

 how such references can in any way detract 

 from the credit due Captain Lucas for his 

 views on dome structure — whatever they were. 



As a parting shot the Captain calls atten- 

 tion to my incompetency in " locating wells " 

 because the Producers well at Pine Prairie 

 " failed to produce." Allow me to state I had 

 no hand in its location. It is too far away 

 from the flanks of the dome for any economic 

 results. So far, the locations I have approved 

 have yielded oil or gas or both in fair quanti- 

 ties. Can others say more? 



G. D. Harris 

 Pine Peaieie, La., 

 June 29, 1912 



VNIVEBSITY CONTROL 



LETTERS FROM CORNELL UNIVERSITY 



It is certainly curious, to say the least, that 

 in a democratic country we should have de- 

 veloped what is apparently a monarchical 

 system of university government, whereas in 

 monarchical countries they have democratic 

 systems of university control. However, I 

 doubt whether the government of American 

 universities is really as monarchical as it 

 sounds, or as the organization would suggest. 

 Of course, there are good systems of govern- 

 ment and bad systems of government as such, 

 but the success of any system depends in the 

 end largely on the personality of the members 

 of the board and of the president. It is pos- 

 sible to work out a thoroughly democratic 

 system even under the monarchical form that 

 we have established in this country. I am 

 afraid that a discussion of this question is 

 likely to be largely academic, for I do not see 

 any reason for thinking that we shall be able 

 to make any radical departures in the general 

 philosophy of the administration of our insti- 

 tutions. In the case of state institutions par- 

 ticularly, the representatives of the people 



