412 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE, 
kansas, the Rio Grande and Rio Colorado and westwardly. Of this trip we have 
seen no official report. 
Lieut. W. H. Emory performed a military reconnoissance from Ft. Leaven- 
worth to San Diego, California, passing along the Arkansas, Del Norte, and Gila 
Rivers, reaching the Pacific coast in December. On the 6th of December Capt. 
A. R. Johnson was killed in a fight withthe Mexicans at San Pasqual, California, 
In November and December Col. P. St. George Cooke marched from the 
Rio Grande to Tucson and thence to San Diego, Cal. About the same time 
Lieut. J. W. Abert explored the country from Leavenworth to Santa Fe, return- 
ing by the Canadian and Arkansas Rivers. The reports of the various expeditions 
of 1846 and 1847 were published in one volume by the Government. 
By authority of Congress David Dale Owen made geological surveys in 1847, 
1848, 1849, and 1850 of country now included within the limits of Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, Dakota, and Iowa. In this he was ably assisted by Richard Owen, 
Dr. J. G. Norwood, Col. C. C. Whittlesey, Dr. B. F. Shumard, Dr. A. Litton, 
and F. B. Meek. Their report was the first complete geological report published 
under direction of the Government. Capt. Howard Strasburg in June, 1849, 
started on his expedition by way of Platte River and Ft. Bridger to Salt Lake, 
which they reached the last of August. He remained here in winter quarters 
until April, 1850, and then made various surveys in Utah and returned to Leav- 
enworth in November. 
From 1850 to i860 the U. S. Government made numerous surveys to the 
Pacific which were chiefly entitled "Explorations of a Railroad Route from the. 
Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean." 
Since i860 the surveys have been chiefly conducted by the U. S. Geologica\ 
and Geographical Surveys under authority of Interior Department, also the En- 
gineer Department of the United States Army, and their publications have been 
many. 
NATURAL SCIENCE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 
T. BERRY SMITH, PRITCHETT INSTITUTE, GLASGOW, MO. 
It is a curious fact that the bulk of history is composed of the lives and 
deeds of men who were great monarchs, valiant generals, base tyrants, or bloody 
murderers. One grows tired of reading of war and carnage, sin and sorrow, 
widows and orphans, and all the long catalogue of evils wrought and recorded in 
the Past. Surely there is another side to this gloomy picture. Surely there are 
pursuits which men may follow, and which men have followed and therefrom 
reaped pleasant harvests. Yea, " in the conquests of science no widow's or 
orphan's tears are shed, no captives are dragged from their homes, and no devoted 
victims are yoked to the chariot wheels of the triumphant philosopher." 
While reading the history of Louis XIV of France, I was struck with the 
