Apeil 20, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



619 



the Army, for use in the manufacture of 

 great rifles. Progress was made in design- 

 ing apparatus for the comparison of electri- 

 cal standards ; and standards of length and 

 mass were furnished as requested, to State 

 and municipal authorities, to corporations, 

 and to individuals. 



As a special feature in the operations of 

 the fiscal year for which the report is made, 

 may be mentioned the tide and current ob- 

 servations in Seymour Narrows, Alaska ; 

 where, by permission of the Canadian 

 Government, a tide gauge was established, 

 and times of slack water during day hours, 

 from April 18th to October 14th, were ob- 

 served. Predictions based on this and other 

 information have since appeared in the tide 

 tables, and are a valuable acquisition to the 

 information there found. 



During the year a contract was let for 

 the steamer Pathfinder, to be constructed 

 especially for the Alaskan work. She is the 

 largest of the Coast Survey fleet, now num- 

 bering 11 steamers and five sailing vessels, 

 and has a displacement of about 875 tons, 

 with a steaming radius of 7000 miles. This 

 vessel has already made the trip from New 

 York to San Francisco, by way of Cape 

 Horn, and has proved herself to be an ad- 

 mirable sea-going vessel. She is now 

 stationed in the Hawaiian Islands, engaged 

 in hydrographic work, but will soon come 

 north to take up the operations for which 

 she is especially fitted by her construction, 

 namely, the hydrography on the rock-bound 

 coasts of the Aleutian Islands. 



The reconnoissance and the triangulation 

 has been carried on along ninety-eighth me- 

 ridian, and much progress has been made. 

 This is later to be connected with the Mexi- 

 can work on the south and the British onjthe 

 north, and altogether will furnish an arc of 

 the meridian, second to none, for the deter- 

 mination of the earth's figure. The great 

 arc across Eussia, from the North Cape to the 

 Baltic, was considered a great achievement, 



but the combined British, American and 

 Mexican arc will probably stand without a 

 rival for many years to come. This, com- 

 bined with the arc of the parallel, the re- 

 sults of which are now deduced, and the 

 report of which is running through the 

 press, will completely determine the earth's 

 figure for the continent of North America. 



The important connection across the 

 Peninsula of Florida, from Fernandina on 

 the east to Cedar Keys on the west, has 

 been made and is reported in the present 

 volume. This completely binds together 

 the somewhat loose tertiary triangulation 

 on the eastern coast with that on the 

 western, and aids materially in the correct 

 determination of all geographical positions 

 on the coast of Florida. 



Following the traditions of the Coast and 

 Geodetic Survey in the question of State 

 boundaries, assistants were detailed to aid 

 the commissioners of Maryland and Vir- 

 ginia in the location of the line between 

 the two states. This was completed in 

 January of the fiscal year. Other impor- 

 tant side operations were the special hydro- 

 graphic examination of the Tybee Sub- 

 merged Breakwater, made at the request 

 of the War Department ; services on the 

 Mississippi River Commission ; hydro- 

 graphic surveys at Key "West and the 

 Tortugas, made at the request of the Navy 

 Department; and operations undertaken 

 in compliance with special acts of Congress. 

 Under the last head may be stated the 

 survey of the Brunswick Outer Bar, Ga., 

 which, on account of the extreme accuracy 

 required, necessitated prolonged and care- 

 ful examination. Aid was given in the 

 private expedition undertaken during the 

 year, to Mt. St. Elias, and although the ex- 

 pedition was unable to reach the top, valu- 

 able information of the region was procured. 



In the fourth part of the work appear the 

 Appendices. Of these there are nine, and 

 the subjects treated are : 



