May 20, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



783 



part in the work, for to get the best re- 

 sults will require the best effort of the best 

 heads in the state. A governing board 

 consisting of the governor, the president of 

 the university, the president of the school 

 of mines, the president of the agricultural 

 college or the director of the experiment 

 station, the president of the academy of 

 sciences, arts and letters, with perhaps the 

 president of the state board of horticul- 

 ture and the president of the society of 

 engineers, would certainly be above criti- 

 cism, and would adopt a broad and liberal 

 policy that woiild bring about excellent 

 results. 



The plan of operation should, of course, 

 be left to the governing board, but the bill 

 should specify the scope of the survey, 

 which should include both the geology and 

 the natural history of the state. This is 

 the belief of those who have had much to 

 do with the older surveys. 



The expense should be modest for a be- 

 ginning, and the work should be developed 

 as necessities may warrant, or men of 

 ability in special lines may be secured. A 

 tax of one tenth mill for fish and game 

 produces a revenue of from $17,000 to 

 $18,000. A tax of equal amount for a 

 state siirvey will give it a good start and 

 make it possible to do most valuable work. 

 An appropriation of not less than $10,000, 

 and possibly $15,000, will enable the work 

 to start at once with sufficient breadth 

 to develop in several directions. 



The work of the survey will take many 

 years. Most of the work in the field will 

 be in the summer. I doubt not men from 

 the state institutions can be secured without 

 big outlay for salary. This is at least to 

 be expected. It will no doubt take years 

 to carry out some of the outlines that will 

 develop. Men living in the state who are 

 in the employ of the state and who are 

 fitted should be most valuable in many 

 ways. Others not in state institutions will 



be found who will no doubt gladly assist, 

 and there are many such who are com- 

 petent. There is a long list of competent 

 men to be foimd in the state, competent 

 for some one line of work, at least. A few 

 of these are already on the roll of the acad- 

 emy; more of them should be. 



The above plan is, I believe, feasible. 

 In one year the legislature meets. The 

 state is in good financial condition. There 

 is no reason why the survey should not be 

 started. Some one must start it. The 

 academy shotdd foster the move. I advo- 

 cated the move last year at our first meet- 

 ing. I repeat it and urge action on the 

 part of the academy. Speak of it through 

 the press. Present it to those who have 

 influence. If we all work zealoiisly and 

 earnestly it will surely go. 



MoETON J. Elrod. 



Univeesity op M0NTA3<A, 

 Missoula, Mont. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

 The Harriman AlasTea Expedition. Vol. IH., 

 Glaciers and Glaciation. By Grove Kari, 

 Gilbert, pp. i-sii, 1-231; 18 plates and 106 

 figures. Vol. IV., Geology and Paleontology. 

 By B. K. Emerson, Charles Palache, Will- 

 L4M H. Dall, E. O. Ulrich and F. H. 

 Knowlton, pp. i-x, 1-173; 33 plates and 18 

 figures. Published by Doubleday, Page and 

 Company, New York, 1904. Size 7 by 10 

 inches. 



Volumes one and two of the Harriman 

 Alaska Expedition, containing a narrative of 

 the journey and treating of the glaciers, na- 

 tives, history, geography and resources of 

 Alaska, were published in 1901. The two 

 volumes recently issued are of special interest 

 to geologists, and still others, as is understood, 

 devoted to botany and zoology, are yet to come. 

 The Harriman ExiDedition, it will be remem- 

 bered, was primarily a journey for pleasure 

 and recreation, which twenty-three literary and 

 scientific men were invited to accompany and 

 it became a scientific reconnaissance embra- 

 cing a wide range of subjects. The expedition 



