March 23, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



185 



FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 1883. 



THE SPHERE OF THE UN f TED STATES 

 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



Ever since the establishment of the U. S. 

 geological sui've3-, in 1879, there has been a 

 question as to the extent of the territory 

 subject to its researches. The legislators 

 who framed the organic law intended to make 

 the field of investigation co-extensive with the 

 United States ; but they failed to eniplo}- un- 

 mistakable language ; and the officer on whom 

 devolved the interpretation of the law con- 

 strued ' national domain ' to mean onlj' those 

 states and territories in which are public 

 lands. It seemed to those interested in the 

 work, that this restriction was unwise ; and a 

 resolution to remove it was introduced in the 

 next Congress. The House acceded without 

 a dissenting voice, but in the Senate the crj^ 

 was raised that state rights were being invaded. 

 A political discussion ensued, and the pi'opo- 

 sition failed to I'each a vote. In 1882, how- 

 ever, the paragraph appropriating monej' for 

 the survejf was so altered as to extend its 

 operations to the whole country- ; at least, so 

 far as is necessarj^ for the preparation of a 

 general geological map. 



Under the authoritj- thus granted, several 

 new works have been initiated, and two inves- 

 tigations already- begun have been carried into 

 new territory-. Of the new undertakings, the 

 most important are geographic. Three topo- 

 graphic parties and one triangulation partj' 

 were sent to the Appalachian mountains in 

 North Carolina, and adjacent portions of Ten- 

 nessee, Kentucky', Virginia, and West Vir- 

 ginia ; and a base-line was measured in Ar- 

 kansas as a first step toward the mapping of 

 the Ozark mountains. An investigation of the 

 mcsozoie strata of eastern Vii'giuia, North 

 Carolina, and Maryland, alreadj' begun b3' 

 Prof. William M. Fontaine, was taken up by 

 the survej" ; and a beginning was made in the 

 study of the Oi'ange Sand of the Gulf States. 

 The works previously instituted, but now ex- 

 tended to new ground, were the study of the 

 northern drift, by Prof. T. C. Chamberlin, and 



No. 7. — 1883. 



the study of the copper-bearing rocks of the 

 Lake Superior region, bv Prof. R. D. Irving. 



The temporary restriction to which the sur- 

 vey' was subjected led to a free discussion, 

 not only of the constitutional competence of 

 the nation to investigate the mineral resources 

 of the states, but of the proper functions of a 

 scientific survej' endowed by the government, 

 and of the relative functions of national and 

 state geological surveys. The fact was de- 

 veloped, that the directors of the existing state 

 surveys, almost without exception, favored the 

 establishment of a national survej', but that 

 the wisdom of the measure was questioned by 

 several geologists not directlj' connected with 

 state work. The chief ground of objection ap- 

 peared to be, that the local interest essential to 

 thorough local work could be best secured by 

 local organizations ; the chief ground of sup- 

 port, that the work in each state must develop 

 scientific problems soluble only by investiga- 

 tions carried beyond the lines of the state. 

 Those who recognize both these considerations 

 hope that the inauguration of the national work 

 will not be followed bj* anj- abatement of state 

 work. Certainlj- there is ample room for both ; 

 and a national survey is no more competent to 

 discuss local questions than are state surveys 

 to answer those of a general nature. With a 

 proper differentiation of function, there need be 

 no more overlapping of work than is necessary 

 to promote salutary discussion. So far as in- 

 dicated by its initial work, the national survey 

 purposes to confine its attention to researches 

 the subjects of which lie in several states, and 

 the results of which have more than a" local in- 

 terest. Professor Irving's investigation of the 

 copper-bearing rocks leads him, of neeessitj', 

 into three states ; and Professor Chamberlin's 

 study of the great moraine marking the second 

 division of the glacial epoch, has carried him 

 and his assistants into thirteen states and one 

 territory. The scientific value of a national 

 organization is especially illustrated bj' the 

 latter work. While Professor Chamberlin has 

 had the advantage of a great body of published 

 material, he nevertheless owes to the U. S. 

 survey the opportunity of tracing, and uniting 



