OCTOBEB 11, 1901.] 



SCIENCE. 



575 



most stable results are usually secured through 

 gradual evolution, and the Washington Mem- 

 orial Institution can grow as rapidly as circum- 

 stances permit. Should there be a congres- 

 sional cataclysm in favor of a national university, 

 a foundation will be at hand which will obviate 

 the necessity of erecting castles in the air. 



The action of the National Council of Edu- 

 cation in somewhat brusquely setting aside the 

 report of its committee, and that of the Na- 

 tional Educational Association in affirming its 

 position in favor of a national university, cer- 

 tainly represent a strong trend of opinion. More 

 especially are the representatives of the great 

 State universities in favor of a national univer- 

 sity, and these universities are the allies of the 

 future. We are in the midst of conditions that 

 have not existed elsewhere or heretofore. Our 

 privately endowed colleges and univei'sities 

 originated largely in sectarian enthusiasm, 

 and are still in large measure supported by ad- 

 herents of special religious denominations. 

 The unexampled gifts of rich men for public 

 education have undoubtedly tended to maintain 

 the stability of society and have bridged over 

 the interval required for the people to learn the 

 importance of higher education for the com- 

 mon good. But we shall not always depend 

 on the charity of the rich, nor will our univer- 

 sities always be administered by business men. 

 Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins and Cornell are 

 turning to the State for help ; Harvard, Yale 

 and Columbia must do the same if their pres- 

 tige is to be maintained. 



The obvious outcome of democratic institu- 

 tions is the support of education by the people. 

 We have district schools, city colleges and state 

 universities. We shall have a University of 

 the United States. It may come suddenly, but 

 it is far more likely to result from the gradual 

 development of the Washington Memorial In- 

 stitution. J. McKekn Cattell. 



SHOBTEB ARTICLES. 

 SOME OBSERVATIONS BEARING ON THE PROB- 

 ABLE SUBSIDENCE DURING RECENT GEO- 

 LOGICAL TIMES OF THE ISLAND OF 

 SANTA CATALINA OFF THE COAST 

 OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



In the course of the dredging operations car- 

 ried on along the coast of southern California 



by the Zoological Department of the University 

 of California, during the past summer, obser- 

 vations were made incidentally of such obvious 

 geological interest that I feel justified in going 

 outside my own province to record them. 



While dredging in forty-five fathoms about 

 three-quarters of a mile oflF Long Point, on 

 the north side of Santa Catalina Island, the 

 dredge brought up large numbers of cobble 

 stones varying in size from a sparrow's egg to 

 a man's head. Most of them were very smooth 

 and round, though they were covered by a thick 

 coating of encrusting bryozoa, worm tubes, 

 ascidians, chitens, sponges, etc., showing them 

 to have remained undisturbed for a long period. 



They were entirely similar in material and 

 shape and size to the cobbles composing the 

 shingle of many of the little beaches on dif- 

 ferent parts of the island, e. g., that at Avalon 

 near by. 



That they came from a submerged beach was 

 a suggestion so obvious as not to escape any of 

 those on board the launch, in spite of the fact 

 that there was not a geologist among us, and 

 hence no one greatly familiar with the geological 

 history of the region, and consequently pre- 

 pared to put such an interpretation on what we 

 saw. 



When, however, we came to consider the 

 matter in the light of facts of a wholly different 

 character well known to geologists, and under- 

 stood by them to testify that the island has 

 been sinking beneath the waters of the Pacific 

 in recent geological time, there would seem to 

 be little doubt that at no very remote date in 

 the past, geologically speaking, the shore line of 

 the island at the point from which these stones were 

 taken was from three-quarters of a mile to a mile 

 out to sea from its present position. 



The subject is so interesting as to make it 

 worth while to present in outline the evidence 

 from other sources tending to show that a sub- 

 sidence of the island has taken place even if it 

 is not still in progress. 



It is now generally admitted among geolo- 

 gists, I believe, that San Pedro Hill on the 

 mainland has emerged from the sea and been 

 elevated to its present height, 1475 feet, since 

 Post-Pliocene times. The hill, particularly on 

 its seaward slope, is laid off into a succession 



