202 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII. No. 1102 



Brazil, Peru, Chili, Persia, Kussia, Asia Minor 

 (Heraclee) and China. 



Professor Zeiller was one of the first to 

 demonstrate the precision with which fossil 

 plants can be used in stratigraphic geology 

 and in the numerous large memoirs on the 

 Carboniferous and Permian floras of the coal 

 basins of Grand-Combe (1884), Valenciennes 

 (1888), Commentry (1888-1891), Epinac 

 (1890), Brive (1892), Blanzey and Creusot 

 (1906), as well as in his work on the fossil 

 plants, which forms part 2 of Vol. 4 of " Ex- 

 plication de la carte geologique de la Erance " 

 (1879), he displayed a philosophic interpreta- 

 tion that had never been equalled. Since 

 1878 the mining engineers of France have had 

 the benefit of his annual course in paleobotany 

 at the Ecole nationale des Mines, the excel- 

 lence of which is attested by his " Elements 

 de Paleobotanique " published in 1900, which 

 remains not only the best but the only well 

 balanced text-book on this subject that has 

 ever been written. 



Professor Zeiller was not only a voluminous 

 contributor to his chosen science, but a life- 

 long teacher and a conscientious and efficient 

 administrator, having been for more than 

 twenty years the secretary of the National 

 Board of Mines, Inspector General since 1884 

 and Vice-president since 1902. He had charge 

 of the Annates des Mines from 1874 to 1910. 

 For a period of forty-five years he was an hon- 

 ored member of the Societe geologique de 

 France and its president in 1893. Honors 

 came to him freely both at home and abroad. 

 He was a commander of the Legion of Honor 

 and a member of the French Academy since 

 1901. Cambridge conferred its Se.D. on him 

 at the time of the Darwin Centennial. 



Professor Zeiller was a sort of father-con- 

 fessor to the younger paleobotanists of all 

 races, and they found in him a wise and 

 kindly critic, always painstaking and helpful, 

 as well as a generous and inspiring friend. 

 His rare ability was combined with an equally 

 rare modesty that endeared him to a wide 

 circle on this side of the Atlantic, and wher- 

 ever fossil plants are studied his name will 



ever be honored. This is neither the time nor 

 the place for a critical analysis of his contri- 

 butions to science — our grief is too recent. 

 That he upheld the high traditions of French 

 paleontology there can be no doubt. His 

 epitaph might well read Nil nisi ionum. 



E. W. B. 



RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PAN- 

 AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC 

 CONGRESS 



The Second Pan-American Scientific Con- 

 gress at its final session before adjourning to 

 meet again at Lima in the year 1921, which 

 will be the Peruvian centenary, adopted by 

 unanimous vote thirty-six recommendations. 

 Those relating to the sciences are as follows: 



I. That it is highly desirable that the various 

 American republics arrange for the appointment of 

 delegates for joint action in the matter of archeo- 

 logieal exploration, in order to formulate gener- 

 ally acceptable and substantially uniform laws re- 

 lating to the survey, exploration, and study of 

 archeological remains to be found in the several 

 republics, and that laws shall be enacted which 

 will effectively safeguard these remains from 

 wanton destruction or exploitation and which will 

 serve to aid and stimulate properly organized and 

 accredited research in archeology. 



II. That the government of the United States 

 be requested to bring to the attention of the gov- 

 ernments of the other republics participating in 

 the congress and, through their respective govern- 

 ments, to the institutions and the public thereof, 

 the importance of promoting research in the field 

 of archeology, organized surveys for the study of 

 primitive tribes, and the building of national edu- 

 cational museums for the preservation of the data 

 and materials collected. 



III. The American republics undertake as soon 

 as possible: (o) Accurate, geodetic measurements 

 which may serve to determine limits, national and 

 international, and to contribute to the discovery 

 of the true shape of our planet. (6) Magnetic 

 measurements of their respective surfaces, and the 

 establishment of several permanent magnetic ob- 

 servatories in which it may be possible to carry on 

 during long periods of time observations concern- 

 ing the secular variation of the magnetic charac- 

 ters of the earth, (c) To extend their gravimetric 

 measures (obtained by means of the pendulum) 



