September 22, 1911]' 



SCIENCE 



367 



basicity, and the plutonic intrusions then 

 begin with the most basic type and end 

 with the most acid. I mention this only to 

 point out that, while the larger divisions 

 of our ideal classification will have a cer- 

 tain geographical and tectonic significance, 

 the subdivisions will show a certain corre- 

 spondence with the sequence in time of the 

 various cognate rock-types. 



To pursue the subject farther would 

 serve no useful purpose. It is clear that, 

 if a natural — by which I mean a genetic 

 — classification of igneous rocks is ever to 

 become a reality, much work must first be 

 done, both in the field and in the labora- 

 tory, each petrographical province being 

 studied from the definite standpoint of the 

 evolution of its rock-types from one parent 

 stock. Such researches as those of Brogger 

 in the Christiania province may serve as a 

 model. It would be rash to venture at 

 present more than the most general fore- 

 cast of the lines which future developments 

 may follow; but I think it calls for no less 

 hardihood to set limits to what may ulti- 

 mately be possible in this direction. There 

 are those who would have us abandon in 

 despair all endeavor to place petrography 

 upon a genetic basis, and fall back upon a 

 rigid arbitrary system as a final solution 

 of the difficulty. This would be to re- 

 nounce forever the claim of this branch of 

 geology to rank as a rational science. I 

 have said enough to show that I am one of 

 those who take a more hopeful view of the 

 future of petrology, confidently expecting 

 it to show, like the past, a record of con- 

 tinued progress. 



AiFEED HaRKBR 



LETTER TO THE SECBETABr OF AGBI- 



CULTUSE DISMISSING THE CHABGES 



AGAINST OFFICEBS OF THE 



BUBEAU OF CHEMISTBY 



I RETDRN herewith the papers which you 



have submitted to me in the matter of the re- 



port of the Committee on Personnel of the 

 Department of Agriculture, in which, after 

 summarizing the evidence adduced before 

 them, they recoramended that Dr. H. H. 

 Rusby, pharmacognosist in the Bureau of 

 Chemistry, be dismissed from the service; that 

 Dr. L. F. Kebler, chief of the drug laboratory 

 in the Bureau of Chemistry, be reduced from 

 his present position, and Dr. H. W. Wiley, 

 chief of the Bureau of Chemistry, and Dr. 

 W. D. Bigelow, assistant chief of the bureau, 

 be given an opportunity to resign from the 

 positions which they now hold in the Bureau 

 of Chemistry, on account of the irregularities 

 in the appointment of Dr. H. H. Eusby. 



The facts shown by the papers, stated 

 shortly, are as follows : 



Dr. Rusby lived in New York, and was em- 

 ployed as a scientific expert in the Bureau of 

 Chemistry to examine importation of drugs, 

 under an agreement by which he received $20 

 a day for laboratory work and $50 a day for 

 attendance in court. 



On May 24, 1909, the Attorney-General ad- 

 vised the Secretary of Agriculture that, under 

 the act of March 4, 1907 (34 Stat. 1289), no 

 classified scientific investigator should re- 

 ceive a salary to exceed $9 a day. On May 

 29, 1909, an order was issued putting him on 

 the roll at a salary of $9 a day when actually 

 employed. Dr. Rusby objected to this, and 

 applied to Dr. Kebler, chief of the drug lab- 

 oratory, to secure a different arrangement. 

 The matter seems to have been held in abey- 

 ance for some time. Finally, as a result of 

 conference between Dr. Kebler, Dr. Bigelow 

 and Dr. Wiley with respect to the request of 

 Dr. Rusby for an increased compensation,' 

 Dr. Wiley said he would submit to you for 

 your approval an appointment of Dr. Rusby 

 at a salary at the rate of $2,000 per annum on 

 the miscellaneous roll. Dr. Bigelow then 

 wrote to Dr. Rusby, under date of January 2, 

 1910, as follows: 



Dr. Kebler and I took the matter up with Dr. 

 Wiley to-day, and he said he would approve it if 

 we had on record an understanding with you, so 

 we could not be held responsible for your receiving 



