184 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 370. 



. of text-books furnished the material out of 

 which they were chiefly made. Doubtless 

 many of the labels were copied without a 

 glance at the specimen which it accom- 

 panied. There was far too little evidence 

 of individual, indeijendent observation. 

 Let it be noted, however, that the essays 

 which contained the most personal ob- 

 servations were the most accurate. It was 

 in the essays most largely made up of 

 copied labels that such strangely conglom- 

 erated statements as those I have quoted 

 were to be found. This inculcated slavery 

 to print is to my mind one great weakness 

 of modern instruction in the elementary 

 schools, so far as any hope of the promotion 

 of science is concerned, and it is in museum 

 study that one of the best remedies for it 

 is to be found. In order that independent 

 study may be encouraged it may be ques- 

 tioned whether the museum label should 

 aim to give very extended information. 

 To be sure, the mere copying or reading of 

 the label serves to some extent to fix the in- 

 formation it contains iipon the mind, but 

 the knowledge would take firmer hold if this 

 information could be gained by a study of 

 the specimen. I have often noticed visit- 

 ore of all ages studying an unlabeled col- 

 lection with the greatest persistency and 

 interest, and then have seen them finish it 

 in a glance after it was labeled. They 

 seemed to feel that they were relieved of 

 any further responsibility in regard to it 

 as soon as they saw the labels. Hence, 

 Goode 's well-known aphorism that ' a 

 museum should consist of a collection of 

 instructive labels illustrated by specimens ' 

 has its limitations. Uttered to call atten- 

 tion to the need for system and as a protest 

 against the lumber room, it had a pro- 

 found value, but modern experience will 

 hardly consider it a final ideal. It is pos- 

 sible to so prepare and arrange collections 

 that they will tell their own story without 

 more labels than are needed to serve as 



hints or indexes. Such collections or ex- 

 hibits will promote the spirit of observa- 

 tion, study and inquiry, and the more they 

 do this the more will they contribute to the 

 advancement of science. 



Oliver C. Parrington. 

 Field Columbian Museum. 



THE BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN TEXAS 

 AND NEW MEXICO. 



The boundary line between Texas and 

 New Mexico along the 103d meridian was 

 the chief theme of a talk before the Na- 

 tional Geographic Society on November 

 15 by Dr. Marcus Baker. This boundary, 

 created in 1850, was surveyed and monu- 

 mented, in part, in 1859 by John H. Clark, 

 and his survey was confirmed by Congress 

 in 1891. Recent official maps place this 

 boundary two or three miles west of the 103d 

 meridian, where the law declares it to be. 

 The paper read before the Society was a 

 summary of the results of an enquiry un- 

 dertaken to discover and weigh the reasons 

 for this discrepancy. 



The original monuments set by a sur- 

 vey to mark a boundary in accordance 

 with law, become, when confirmed, the 

 boundary, even when followed by more 

 accurate surveys which show the original 

 monuments not to be where they were de- 

 signed to be. The more accurate survey 

 does not alter the boundary. It merely 

 shows how well or ill the original survey 

 was done. Of this line, 310 miles long, 

 180 miles were traced out and marked by 

 mounds of earth or stone in 1859 ; the re- 

 maining 130 miles have not been surveyed. 

 Of the 180 miles surveyed and marked, 24 

 are at the south end marked by 3 mounds 

 and 156 at the north end marked by 23 

 mounds. The longitude of the south end 

 of the line was determined by chaining 

 eastward from El Paso along the 32d 

 parallel 211 miles, the initial station being 



