Mat 26, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



733 



In the day time 57 eruptions occurred be- 

 tween 7 and 11 a.m., 40 occurred about noon, 

 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., while between 

 3 and 7 p.m. 46 occurred. It has been sup- 

 posed that a greater supply of surface water 

 might favor eruption. If that is true, we 

 should expect more frequent eruptions in 

 the late afternoon or early evening when 

 the day's supply of water from melting 

 snow is at its maximum. On the contrary, 

 the mornings have most eruptions, at a 

 time when the daily heat and water supply 

 are near their minimum. 



That the volcanic energy is not dependent 

 upon the supply of surface water to form 

 steam is suggested by the fact that summer 

 and autumn, the dry season, with least 

 water, have a greater number (94) of erup- 

 tions than (84) the wet season of winter 

 and spring. 



In order to determine whether the vol- 

 cano responds to the tidal wave produced 

 in the crust of the earth by the moon, Mr. 

 Van Orstrand has carefully considered 190 

 of the best recorded eruptions and concludes 

 that as yet the results are merely suggestive. 



If we compare the number of correspond- 

 ing seasonal eruptions in 1914 and 1915 

 the result appears significant. In the sum- 

 mer of 1914 there were 38 eruptions, but in 

 1915 only 17. In the autumn of 1914 there 

 were 56 eruptions, while in 1915 there were 

 only 22. Since the great eruption of May 

 22, 1915, when the new lava was extruded 

 and the Hat Creek country devastated, the 

 number of eruptions has decreased and the 

 decadence continues, but whether or not 

 the active period of Lassen Peak is ap- 

 proaching its close, although probable, may 

 be more certainly told next summer. 



"With its comfortably active volcano, in- 

 viting cinder cones and lava fields, vigor- 

 ously boiling hot springs, mud lakes and 

 "mush pots" for the vulcanologist to study, 

 and the glaciated divides and canyons for 



the physiographer, in a setting of lovely 

 scenery and attractive camps, for the tour- 

 ists all easily accessible, the Lassen Peak 

 region affords one of the most alluring and 

 instructive spots for a national park. 



J. S. DiLLEE 



TJ. S. Geological Survey, 

 Washington, D. C, 

 April 18, 1916 



THE NEED FOR MORE HORTICUL- 

 TURAL RESEARCH' 



In order to introduce my subject I hope 

 I may be pardoned for digressing a mo- 

 ment. A few years ago while spending a 

 part of a vacation in the Sierras, I climbed 

 from the floor of Tosemite valley to the top 

 of Glacier Point. To those of you who 

 have been there I need not say that this 

 climb required several hours of very se- 

 vere physical effort. In traveling a mile 

 and a half or less, the vertical ascent 

 amounted to three thousand feet. I was 

 accompanied by my wife, and being mind- 

 ful of her safety as well as my own, I very 

 naturally chose each step of the climb with 

 great care. Often a contemplated step 

 might look safe enough but, on glancing 

 into the depths below, I would feel the 

 necessity for making a more careful ex- 

 amination of the footing before risking my 

 weight upon it. There were numerous in- 

 stances when a false step might have sent 

 us both hurtling downward, and it really 

 is not pleasant to contemplate a half-mile 

 drop into space even when accompanied by 

 good company. Sometimes what appeared 

 to be firm soil on a ledge turned out to be 

 sand, or what looked like solid rock proved 

 to be loose stones concealed by moss and 

 lichens. Thus the journey was made with- 

 out mishap, but slowly, tediously, because 



1 President 's address delivered before the twelfth 

 annual meeting of the Society for Horticultural 

 Science, Columbus, Ohio, December 28, 1915. 



