July K, 1003.] 



SCIENCE. 



85 



Grand Gulf strata near Vernal, Miss., another 

 sei'ies of fossils which I was able to determine 

 as of late Chesapeake or early Pliocene age, 

 and which were then eliminated from the so- 

 called Grand Gulf and placed by Professor 

 Smith at the top of the Miocene with the 

 name of the Pascagoula formation {op. cit., 

 p. 94). 



■ In 1894 Professor Smith expressed himself 

 in regard to the ' Grand Gulf ' in the follow- 

 ing language : ' The barren Grand Gulf sands 

 pass towards the east into the marine deposits 

 of the Chattahoochee (Oligoeene) which are 

 their time equivalent ' (op. cit., p. 17) and 

 ' The underlying division of the Grand Gulf 

 * * * its position is identical with that of 

 the Chattahoochee limestone of Mr. Langdon, 

 and there is no room for any reasonable 

 doubt about their identity in age ' {op. cit., 

 p. 100). 



Since that time Professor Harris and his 

 party of students have traced tyijical ' Grand 

 Gulf ' sandstones beneath the Oak Grove Oli- 

 goeene sands near Oak Grove, Santa Rosa 

 County, Florida, as already mentioned. 



I have no prejudice as to the application 

 of the name Grand Gulf to any particular 

 series to which it can be shown to belong, 

 but I am not convinced that Professor Smith 

 and Ifr. Aldrich, in restricting the name in 

 the manner and to the stratum now proposed, 

 have shown proof of its identity with the 

 original formation described by Wailes. I 

 feel certain that the Pleistocene age of Wailes' 

 formation is unproved. I believe it to be 

 unlikely, and, in view of the record as above 

 summarized, I feel justified in referring it, 

 as heretofore, to the upper Oligoeene, pend- 

 ing more exact and ample information. 



Wm. H. D.\ll. 



SitrPH-SOXIAN IXSTITVTION, 



July 0, 1903. 



AXSWf;R TO PKOFESSOK COCKERELL, REGARDIXO 



IIlfillER EDUC.\TION.\L INSTITUTION'S OF 



NEW ME.XICO. 



To THE Editor of Science: Professor T. 

 D. A. Cockerell has made some statements 

 in his article on the condition of affairs at 

 the New Mexico Normal University which 



appeared iji your columns ilay 8, which seem 

 to me can hardly be passed without notice. 

 I do not care to discuss the matter which 

 Professor Cockerell presents concerning the 

 conditions at the College of Agriculture and 

 Mechanic Arts or at the Normal School at 

 Las Vegas. It is always unfortunate when 

 there is a lack of harmonious relations be- 

 tween a board of regents and the president 

 or faculty of any institution, and still more 

 unfortunate when such relations are the re- 

 sult of political influences. There is no doubt 

 but at times great injustice results to- indi- 

 viduals and great harm to the institution and 

 the broader cause of education. Few insti- 

 tutions of any considerable age have not had 

 some differences arise between their managing 

 boards and their faculties at some time in 

 their history, aixl no institution can boast that 

 its organization is such that it is entirely 

 safeguarded against any such unfortunate 

 condition in the future. It must be recog- 

 nized, however, that such breaches in the 

 harmonious administration of the affairs of 

 an institution are usually very short-lived. 

 The organization of our public institutions 

 may be such that they are more susceptible 

 to such outbreaks than others, but it is to be 

 doubted. In the public institution it is usu- 

 ally politics which interferes; in private in- 

 stitutions it is personal prejudice; in denom- 

 inational schools it is denominational creed 

 or religious difference. The character of the 

 factor may vary, but the result is nearly the 

 same. In all such cases it can usually be 

 shown that some one has abused the powers 

 and privileges of a position of authority. In 

 public institutions all parties, from the gov- 

 ernor, who usually holds the appointing power 

 to membership on the board of regents, down 

 to the student in the class-room, are servants 

 of the people, and all are working under a 

 regularly established system of laws. These 

 laws determine the authoritative ranking of 

 each. Each party has a duty to the subordi- 

 nate elements of the organization, and an 

 obligation of obedience to the superior in 

 rank. In most institutions these duties and 

 obligations are usually well defined by law. 



