42 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. Ko. 106. 



it is at least possible to select an Assistant 

 Secretary in accordance with the theory 

 outlined above, and a Director of the Mu- 

 seum possessed of special qualifications for 

 that work, and who shall, of course, be sub- 

 ordinate to the Secretary of the Institution. 

 This might lead the way to what is cer- 

 tainly still more to be desired. 



THE GEOLOGY OP GOVERNMENT EXPLORA- 

 TIONS* 

 GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION. 



During the Civil War all scientific ex- 

 ploration in the West under the auspices 

 of the government was suspended, and it 

 was not until tlie summer of 1867 that it 

 was resumed. By this time far-sighted men 

 had come to appreciate the political im- 

 portance of a more exact geological knowl- 

 edge of the region between the Mississippi 

 Valle}^ and the Sierra Nevada. During the 

 war there had been no little danger that the 

 States of the Pacific slope might secede from 

 the Union and form a republic of their own, 

 isolated as they were from the other States 

 by a barrier of 1,000 to 1,500 miles of 

 comparatively uninhabited mountains and 

 desert valleys. The lending of government 

 aid to the building of a trans- continental 

 railroad, which had already been decided 

 on, was the first step toward removing this 

 barrier and drawing the peoples of the East 

 and the West into closer connection. The 

 second step was to encourage the settlement 

 of this intermediate region by making 

 known to the public its rich and varied 

 mineral resources. Hence, Congress showed 

 itself ready to lend an ear to geologists 

 who were desirous of getting government 

 aid to carry on geological researches in the 

 comparatively unknown region beyond the 

 mountains. 



Now, for the first time, explorations be- 



* Concluded from the issue of January 1st. 



yond the Missouri river, or surveys, as they 

 soon came to be called, wei-e fitted out 

 avowedly for the purpose of geological in- 

 vestigation, instead of being primarily or- 

 ganized for geographic or military purposes 

 and admitting researches into geologic and 

 other branches of natural history as a sort 

 of ornamental appendage of their work. 

 For the first time also were they under 

 civilian control instead of military disci- 

 pline and command. During the twelve 

 years previous to the organization of the 

 present Geological Survey the principal 

 geological work in the West was done un- 

 der four district organizations, popularly 

 known from the names of their leaders as 

 as the King, Hayden, Powell and Wheeler 

 Surveys. The official control of the first 

 and last was under the Chief of Engineers 

 of the United States army, but only the 

 last was commanded in the field by military 

 officers. The other two were under the In- 

 terior Department and their official titles 

 changed somewhat with the development 

 of their work. 



During this period geologists were also 

 attached from time to time to military 

 reconnaissances, but with one exception' — 

 that of Newton and Jenny in the Black 

 Hills, where the geological infoi-mation had 

 a political bearing — the march was so rapid 

 that the opportunities of geological research 

 were very limited, and the results of rela- 

 tively little importance. Therefore, in 

 view of the limited time at my disposal, I 

 shall confine myself mainly to the principal 

 surveys above mentioned. 



Before commencing an account of their 

 methods and work accomplished it will be 

 well to pass in review the condition of geo- 

 logical knowledge of the country west of 

 the Mississippi Valley at the commence- 

 ment of this period in 1867. 



No areal work, in the sense in which it is 

 understood to-day, had been commenced or 

 hardly thought of. The only maps that 



