Febeuart 25, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



275 



Mexico, large areas in southern Colorado, and 

 a considerable territory in Texas and old Mex- 

 ico, is of unusual importance to that region, 

 for most of it is an arid agricultural country, 

 entirely dependent on its streams for irriga- 

 tion. Water Supply Paper 388, just issued by 

 the United States Geological Survey, contains 

 records for 1914 of the discharge of the Eio 

 Grande and its principal tributaries, together 

 with that of Colorado Eiver of Texas and 

 Brazos Eiver. Systematic study of run-off in 

 the Eio Grande basin was begun by the fed- 

 eral government near Embudo, New Mexico, 

 soon after the passage of the act of October 2, 

 1888, which authorized the organization of 

 the irrigation survey under the direction of 

 the United States Geological Survey. A camp 

 of instruction for hydrographers was estab- 

 lished near Embudo, and at this camp and the 

 gaging station near by the methods of stream 

 measurement now in general use were system- 

 ized. In the spring of 1889 additional stations 

 were established on the Eio Grande near Del 

 Norte, Colo., and El Paso, Tex. From this 

 beginning the work of measuring the waters 

 of the Eio Grande basin has been expanded 

 until there are now 40 gaging stations on the 

 Eio Grande and its tributaries, Colorado 

 Eiver of Texas and Brazos. The report con- 

 tains not only all data concerning stream flow 

 collected in the western Gulf of Mexico basin 

 by the survey and cooperating parties but also 

 records furnished by private individuals and 

 corporations. All stations in New Mexico 

 were maintained in cooperation with the 

 state. The United States Eeclamation Serv- 

 ice furnished a large part of the money ex- 

 pended in the lower Pecos Eiver valley and 

 also rendered assistance in the Eio Colorado, 

 Eio Hondo and Eio Taos drainage basins. 

 The United States Forest Service and the 

 Indian OfSce also aided in the collection of 

 data. 



The thirty-sixth Annual Eeport of the 

 Director of the United States Geological Sur- 

 vey, just made public, emphasizes its scientific 

 and economic activities. The survey inves- 

 tigations cover every branch of the mineral 

 resources of a country whose mineral re- 



sources are the greatest in the world. The 

 work of the survey is conducted under three 

 scientific branches and includes three corre- 

 sponding kinds of activity. Under the 

 geologic branch, investigations are made con- 

 cerning the mineral resources of the entire 

 United States and Alaska, ranging from truly 

 exploratory surveys of regions practically un- 

 known to white men to the most detailed 

 geologic examination of mining camps. Last 

 year 76,000 square miles were thus geologically 

 examined. Work of the survey that is even 

 more of a pioneer type, however, is done by 

 the topographic engineers, who have made 

 surveys during the year in 30 states as well 

 as in Alaska and Hawaii. The survey's topo- 

 graphic map is the base or mother map of the 

 United States. The other scientific branch of 

 the survey is that which conducts investiga- 

 tions of water resources, including the meas- 

 urement of the volume of the important rivers 

 of the country and their tributaries, as well as 

 the study of underground water resources. 

 Stream measurements are carried on from 

 year to year, and the engineering data thiis 

 obtained are used in all kinds of hydraulic 

 engineering, such as projects involving power, 

 irrigation, drainage, and flood prevention. 

 Another feature of the Geological Sur- 

 vey's work is the collection and publica- 

 tion of mineral statistics. Survey geologists 

 are in correspondence with some 90,000 miners, 

 mine operators, and mineral producers, whose 

 output covers all the useful minerals, and the 

 data thus obtained are published by the Sur- 

 vey in reports on seventy-five subjects. The 

 total appropriation provided by Congress for 

 the Geological Survey during the current year 

 is approximately $1,500,000. 



In the joint statement given out by the 

 United States Geological Survey and the Bu- 

 reau of the Mint the value of new gold added 

 to the home supply from mills and smelters 

 operating on domestic ores (including those 

 of Alaska, the Philippines and Porto Eico) in 

 1915 was $98,891,100. This shows the substan- 

 tial increase of $4,359,300 over the output of 

 $94,531,800 in 1914, and was within $782,300 



