SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVI. No. 387 



SCIENCE: 



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Vol. XVI. 



NEW yore:, July 4, 1890. 



No. 387. 



CONTENTS: 



Thdnder-Storms. H. A. Hazen.. 

 Customs of Courtesy. 



Garrick Mallery 



Notes and News 



George Hammell Cook. 



J. W. Powell 

 Letters to the Editor. 

 The International Congress of 

 Persifor Frazer. . 



< and 



Book-Reviews. 

 A Handbook of Descripti 



Practical Astronomy 10 



The True Grasses 10 



The Elements of Machine Design 10 

 Elementary Dynamics of Par- 

 ticles and Solids 11 



Gems and Precious Stones of 



North America 11 



Among the Publishers 11 



GEORGE HAMMELL COOK.' 



"Yet once more, O ye laurels, and once more 

 Ye myrtles brown, with ivy never sere, 

 I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude, 

 And with forced fingers rude 

 Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year. 

 Bitter constraint and sad occasion dear 

 Compel me to disturb your season due." 



One by one the great men depart. As they pass from the 

 sphere of personal association through the portal of the grave into 

 the world of immortal influence, their deeds and honors are re- 

 counted by those who remain. 



When the last entry has been made, the book is opened, the ac- 

 count is rendered. Blessed is he whose good deeds more than 

 balance his emoluments, whose services to mankind more than 

 equal the honors paid him by mankind, for "it is more blessed to 

 give than to receive." Thrice blessed is the man whose life and 

 services we commemorate to-dS,y. 



The generation now at the zenith of life succeeds a generation 

 whose zenith was clouded by war. As the great men of that day 

 pass out through the sunset of life, their battle-deeds are told. It 

 is thus that the mortuary ceremonies of this generation echo the 

 clangor of charging squadrons, the shrieking rattle of battle-lines, 

 and the roar of batteries. 



Sequestered from the pomp of parade, from the roar of funeral 

 gun, from the battle cemetery that hides under marble columns 



' Address of Major J. W. Powell at the funeral of Dr. G. H. Cook, late State 

 Geologist of New Jersey. 



the victims of battle strife, here in the peaceful halls of learning 

 we assemble to commemorate the life of a man whose ways were 

 "paths of peace," whose chariot of progress through the world 

 bore no scythe of destruction, whose life was wholly beneficent, 

 whose youth was devoted to learning, whose early manhood was 

 devoted to instruction, whose prime of life was devoted to re- 

 search, and whose old age was devoted to the organization and 

 development of institutions for the increase and diffusion of 

 knowledge. 



It falls not to my task to characterize the student life of George 

 Hammell Cook. That his opportunities for training were wisely 

 used is abundantly demonstrated by the monument of success 

 which he unconsciously reared for himself in the' years of his 

 public activity. It is not in my province to speak of his profes- 

 sorial life. The scholars and public men who were guided into a 

 higher intellectual life constitute a living monument to his fidelity 

 and genius as an instructor. 



It was as a man engaged in research that I first knew Professor 

 Cook, and learned to honor his untiring industry, his deep insight, 

 and his intellectual integrity. The catalogue of his contributions 

 to science is long — too long to be recounted here, for it constitutes 

 the annals of a long life. Only a few examples can be used to 

 illustrate the wealth of his accomplishments, — in chemistry^ 

 geology, and geography. 



In 1854 Dr. Cook became an assistant on the Geological Survey 

 of New Jersey. This was his induction into scientific work. 

 For three years the field of his research was in the southern part 

 of the State, in the marl-beds and amid the potter's clay. Up tO' 

 that time little attention had been given to these sources of 

 wealth, and fields of industrial operations. 



While in this field of labor, he discovered that a thorough 

 geological survey must be based upon geography, and he con- 

 structed a topographic map expressly for the representation of 

 geologic structure. His stratigraphic determinations were based 

 largely upon instrumental measurements and carefully drawn 

 plans and profiles of the land surveys. Thus was inaugurated in 

 America a system of geological surveying which has gradually 

 obtained ground until it is practically universal. The anatomy 

 of the earth is exhibited in its topographic forms. Plains, val- 

 leys, terraces, hiUs, and mountains are full of meaning to the 

 geologist, for in them is revealed the deep-seated structure of the 

 earth and the history of that struggle between the great geologic 

 powers which is forever in progress, and from the throes of which 

 the continents are bom. 



The theatre of these early operations was near the coast, where 

 the tides of the Atlantic ceaselessly surge to devour the land. 

 Here his trained eye observed phenomena that led to a long system 

 of observation and investigation, by which he ultimately demon- 

 strated that the margin of the coastal plain of the Jersey shore is 

 slowly subsiding, and that the sea is steadily enlarging its do- 

 minion. This work, as it has progressed through the years end- 

 ing in his death, constitutes an important contribution to the 

 facts and philosophy of the science of geology which he culti- 

 vated. 



In 1864 Dr. Cook was appointed State geologist, and held the 

 position until his death. His first task was found in preparing 

 an elaborate exposition of the mineral resources of the State, 

 which had been brought to light by earlier surveys; and he added, 

 to these a series of special investigations, such as were required 

 for the symmetric treatment of the subject. This exposition waa 

 completed and published in 1868 in a large octavo volume accom- 

 panied by a portfolio of maps. He thus at the beginning cleared 

 the field, systematized the existing knowledge, and developed a 

 comprehensive plan for the researches which he carried on until 

 the day of his death. To him geology was not wholly a specula- 

 tive science. His conception of the duties imposed on him by 

 being intrusted with public funds urged him to administer his. 

 trust in such a manner that the welfare of the State might be in- 

 creased thereby. He did not neglect the great philosophic prob- 

 lems of his science, for he directed the investigations of the sur- 

 vey into structural geology, paleontology, chemistry, and geog- 

 raphy; but he held over these researches a constant corrective by 

 making them responsible for exact determinations of industriaH 



