624 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



archaeological remains. In these Missouri possesses remarkable wealth and pre-- 

 sents a most attractive and profitable field of research. Much of this wealth has 

 already gone to enrich eastern museums, which would have remained here had 

 its value been properly appreciated, and much more, doubtless, has been lost or 

 destroyed for the same reason. Traces of our pre-historic inhabitants are rapidly 

 disappearing under the destructive agencies of the plow and other imple- 

 ments of modern civiHzation ; and unless the State takes speedy action in 

 the matter and places upon permanent record the descriptions and exact localities 

 of these ancient remains, they will be lost beyond recovery. Every clue to the 

 history of the former occupants of our soil is daily increasing in value and inter- 

 est, and Missouri has a rare opportunity of advancing her own credit by contrib' 

 uting what she can to the settlement of these important scientific questions. The 

 archaeological Section of the St. Louis Academy of Sciences is doing a most val- 

 uable work in this direction, and members of the Kansas City Academy are also 

 hard at work, as well as many private parties elsewhere. But the State, with a 

 liberality which would do her immense credit, has far the best opportunity to place 

 upon record a complete history of these ancient works, and this should be em- 

 braced before it is forever too late. 



The surface geology of the State, too, presents an inviting and profitable 

 field of scientific investigation. The results of glacial action and drift agencies 

 have received far less attention than their importance demands. The bluff or 

 loess deposits are greatly in need of thorough study. In the first place, the dif- 

 ferent kinds of soils need to be subjected to exhaustive chemical analysis to 

 show what crops cati be grown to best advantage upon each, and what ingredients 

 need to be supplied in the form of fertifizers. Secondly, the study of these sur- 

 face deposits is attracting increased attention from geologists of the adjoining. 

 States, and the gap which has thus far existed in Missouri should be filled by 

 careful examinations here to give completeness to the scientific work going on 

 elsewhere in the Mississippi Valley. 



Among other excellent features of the bill now before the Legislature, stands 

 prominently the section requiring that suits of specimens of minerals, ores, rocks, 

 fossils, etc., representing the wealth of the State, be furnished, on easy terms, to 

 the colleges and public museums of the State. This is an important move in the 

 right direction, and should of itself insure its passage. Our school instruction, 

 of all grades, at the present time is notoriously deficient in facilities and studies 

 capable of fitting students for practical life. This accounts for the facts that "the 

 ratio of school graduates to our population is continually decreasing," and that 

 "men withdraw their sons from the schools when they deem it time to teach them 

 the practical arts and duties of life." Such collections in the colleges of the 

 State, if properly used by teacher and pupils, would go far toward giving the sons, 

 of farmers and others a knowledge of practical science which would result in a 

 great saving of useless expense, and be a rich source of revenue to individuals 

 and the State. 



The knowledge thus acquired would enable the son of many a land-owner to 



