324 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX. No. 1266 



ing letter signed by twenty-three distinguished 

 naturalists : 



The director of the British Museum (Natural 

 History) is about to retire, and we learn with deep 

 apprehension, that the principal trustees, with whom 

 the appointment rests, have received, or are about 

 to receive, from the general body of trustees a rec- 

 ommendation to pass over the claims of scientific 

 men and to appoint a lay official, who is at present 

 assistant secretary. The former directors. Sir 

 Richard Owen, Sir "WUtiam Flower, and Sir Eay 

 Laniester, like the present director. Sir Lazarus 

 Fletcher, were all distinguished scientific men. The 

 Natural History Museum is a scientific institution. 

 There is a large staS of scientific keepers and as- 

 sistants. The director has to represent natural his- 

 tory to the public, to other scientific institutions at 

 home, in the dominions and colonies, and in for- 

 eign countries, and to the many goverimient de- 

 partments with which the museum has relations. 

 He must represent it with knowledge and author- 

 ity. There are few posts with such possibilities 

 of advancing the natural history sciences, of ma- 

 king them useful to the nation and of interpreting 

 them to the public. The existence of the post is a 

 great stimiilus to the zeal and ambition of zool- 

 ogists and geologists. 



The arguments alleged in favor of the recom- 

 mendation are trivial. It is stated that a former 

 director was allowed by the trustees to leave the 

 administrative details to the member of the clerical 

 staff whom it is proposed to promote, that he per- 

 formed these duties with ability, and during the 

 tenure of the present director retained and ex- 

 tended his powers. It is urged that the tenure of 

 the new director would be short, as he would have 

 to retire in two years under the age limit. It is 

 pleaded that promotion would entitle him to a 

 larger pension, and that he need not be called di- 

 rector, but only acting-director. 



Plainly, if the assistant secretary be the only 

 man who knows the details of administration, it is 

 important that the permanent director should be 

 appointed at once, in order to have the opportunity 

 of learning them before taking them over. In 

 actual fact there is nothing in the administrative 

 work of the directorship that could not be learned 

 in a few weeks or months by any person of ordi- 

 nary inteUigenee. At least two of the present 

 keepers are eligible for the vacancy, have attained 

 the necessary scientific standing, and have ample 

 experience of the museum itself. To pass over 

 these or several eminent and eligible men not on 

 the staff in favor of one of the ordinary office staff 



would be an affront to scientific men and of grave 

 detriment to science. 



THE INYO RANGE AND THE MOUNT WHITNEY 

 REGION 



The Inyo Range, the Mount Whitney region 

 and Owens Valley, which lies between these 

 two ranges, in eastern California, are described 

 in a report just issued by the United States 

 Geological Survey, as Professional Paper 110 

 by Adolf Knopf. This region is ofi the main 

 lines of travel and is not so well known as 

 other parts of the state, but when the roads 

 and railway facilities are improved, Owens 

 Valley, which affords the easiest access to the 

 region, will certainly become famous for its 

 magnificent scenery. The Sierra Nevada, 

 which reaches its highest point in Mount 

 Whitney, forms the west wall of Owens Valley, 

 and as it rises abruptly above the valley with- 

 out intervening foothills the range displays its 

 majestic height far more imposingly here than 

 anywhere else along its course. The top of 

 the Sierra Nevada is readily accessible by 

 trails that start from the pleasant tovms of 

 Lone Pine, Independence, Big Pine and 

 Bishop. Good roads extend into the heart 

 of the range from Bishop, the chief town in 

 Owens Valley, so that an automobile trip of 

 hardly more than an hour will take the traveler 

 to the headwaters of Bishop Creek, whose pro- 

 foundly glaciated canyons and spacious am- 

 phitheaters are among the most impressive in 

 the entire range. The country west of the 

 crest of this part of the Sierra Nevada is 

 included in the proposed Roosevelt National 

 Park. 



The region is rich in mineral resources — 

 silver, lead, zinc, tungsten, gold and marble — 

 and the waters of Owens Lake yield soda and 

 other chemicals. The mines at Cerro Gordo, 

 in the Inyo Range, have produced more silver- 

 lead ore than any other mine in California, 

 their output of base bullion between 1869 and 

 1877 amounting to $7,000,000. After those 

 early flush times the mines long lay idle, but 

 in recent years they have been reopened, and 

 Cerro Gordo has again become California's 

 foremost producer of lead ore. 



