98 
others. It resulted in the location of a 
route and the formation of final plans, on 
which construction was begun. Financial 
difficulties brought the work to a stop, and 
a proposition to transfer the concession and 
property of the Company to the United 
States brought the matter before Congress. 
In order to obtain information on which to 
base its action, Congress provided for the 
appointment of a commission to determine 
the feasibility and cost of the undertaking. 
This commission, of which Colonel Ludlow 
was president, made no actual surveys, but 
examined the route selected by the Canal 
Company, and its surveys, plans and esti- 
mates. As a result of this examination 
the commission doubled the estimates of 
cost made by the Company, and suggested 
material modifications in the plans adopt- 
ed. It recommended that further investi- 
gation of the route be made before final 
action was taken by Congress. In accord- 
ance with this recommendation a new com- 
mission was authorized and appointed in 
1897. This commission, of which Rear Ad- 
miral Walker was president, employed a 
large corps of engineers and carried on ac- 
tive field operations throughout the greater 
part of 1898. The work was conducted 
under the immediate supervision of Chief 
Engineer EK. S. Wheeler, to whom the ex- 
cellence of the results obtained is largely 
due. 
This fourth survey of the canal region has 
been made on a somewhat more compre- 
hensive plan than any of the others, and, 
while former work has been utilized, every 
important point has been carefully verified. 
Special attention has been paid to two sub- 
jects, hydrography and geology, concerning 
which, as pointed out by the Ludlow com- 
mission, the available information was ex- 
tremely meager. Mr. A. P. Davis and the 
writer were detailed from the Geological 
Survey to conduct the investigations on 
these subjects. 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Voz. X. No. 239 
Mr. Davis established a large number of 
stations, at which the streams were gauged 
and the rainfall and evaporation measured. 
The importance of his observations and de- 
ductions is shown by the material modifica- 
tions they have necessitated in the Canal 
Company’s plans. 
The geologic work consisted in a system- 
atic examination of the region adjacent. 
to the canal route and in an examination of 
sub-surface conditions by means of the drill. 
Ample facilities were afforded for the latter, 
and a mass of exact information was ob- 
tained as a basis for estimates by the engi- 
neers. Owing to the great depth of rock 
decay in this region and the extensive ac- 
cumulations of alluvium, estimates both for 
foundations and for excavations made with- 
out the data furnished by the drill are open 
to serious question. 
Until the investigations of the Walker 
commission the information obtained by 
the various surveys was such as comes. 
strictly within the purview of the engineer, 
and many facts having the most direct 
bearing upon the canal problem were en- 
tirely overlooked or ignored. 
' Notwithstanding the large amount of 
work done by eminent engineers in this por- 
tion of Central America, its physiographic: 
features have never been adequately de- 
scribed. As late as the report of the Lud- 
low commission the conventional Hum- 
boldtian view of the topography prevails. 
According to this view, which should be: 
definitely discarded at the outset, a con- 
tinuous mountain chain connects the Cor- 
dilleran system of western North America 
with the Andean system of western South 
America. Hill has fully demonstrated the 
falsity of this old view and shown the com- 
plete independence of the orographic sys- 
tems of the three Americas. 
The most striking physiographic feature 
in this portion of Centra] America, and the 
one which has the most direct practical — 
