Geographic Notes 



*7 



ures which govern or which are related 

 in any way to the supply of water. 



The division will be subdivided into 

 two sections, the eastern and the west- 

 ern, the first embracing the Gulf and 

 Mississippi River States and the States 

 to the east, and the second embracing 

 the remaining ' ' reclamation ' ' States 

 and Territories, or those having public 

 lands. The charge of each section has 

 been assigned to a geologist, the western 

 section to Mr N. H. Darton, and the 

 eastern to Mr M. E- Fuller. The office 

 details are in charge of Mr Fuller. 



Dr Hugh M. Smith is the author of an 

 illustrated report on the ' ' Herring Fish- 

 eries of England, Scotland, and Hol- 

 land," recently issued by the U. S. Fish 

 Commission. The report is based on 

 the observations made by Dr Smith 

 during a visit in 1900 to the principal 

 herring- fishing centers of the countries 

 named. The herring. is today a leading 

 fish in the United States, Canada, New- 

 foundland, England, Scotland, Ireland, 

 Holland, France, Norway, Sweden, and 

 Russia. A species very similar to that 

 of the Atlantic Ocean is found in the 

 North Pacific Ocean, and is caught in 

 large quantities in Japan and Alaska. 

 In point of number of individual fish 

 taken for market, no species exceeds 

 the herring. The annual value of the 

 herring fisheries is $25,250,000, repre- 

 senting 1,500,000,000 pounds of fish. 



The Naval Hydrographic Office has is- 

 sued a fourth edition of ' ' The Naviga- 

 tion of the Gulf of Mexico and Carib- 

 bean Sea " (volume 2), embracing the 

 coast of the mainland from Key West, 

 Florida, to the Orinoco River, Vene- 

 zuela, with the adjacent islands, cays, 

 and banks. 



One phase of the English interpreta- 

 tion of the Alaskan boundary is seen by 

 following their proposed line in the map 

 on page 90. Promontories belonging 

 to the United States would be cut off 

 from the mainland like islands, and have 



no communication with each other ex- 

 cept through foreign land or by water. 

 In other words, the English contention 

 would establish a series of artificial 

 islands along the Alaskan coast. The 

 English interpretation contradicts the 

 intent of all boundary lines, which are 

 designed to follow a natural and con- 

 venient dividing line. 



Dr J. L. M. Cutty, a member of the 

 National Geographic Society for many 

 years, and distinguished as a statesman, 

 educator, and author, died in Asheville, 

 N. C, February 12. Dr Curry was 

 born in Georgia 78 years ago. During 

 the years 1857 to 1861 he was a member 

 of Congress, and from 1861 to 1865 a 

 member of the Confederate Congress 

 and a lieutenant colonel in the C. S. A. 

 From 1865 to 1881 he held chairs in 

 Howard College and Richmond College. 

 In 1885 President Cleveland appointed 

 him Minister to Spain, where he repre- 

 sented the United States for four years. 

 Of late years Dr Curry has been the 

 general agent of the Peabody and Slater 

 educational funds. He has always been 

 closely identified with all educational 

 movements for and in the Southern 

 States. He was the author of several 

 books and many articles dealing with 

 problems of the South. 



The proceedings of the Section of Geol- 

 ogy and Geography of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, for the Washington meeting, 

 December 26-January 3, are published 

 in Science for February 6, 1903, pp. 

 217-229. 



The article by Hon. O. P. Austin on 



' ' Problems of the Pacific — the Com- 

 merce of the Great Ocean," published 

 in the August, 1902, number of this 

 Magazine, has aroused much interest 

 in the Far East. It has been trans- 

 lated into Japanese and published in 

 Tokyo, and into Russian and published 

 at Vladivostok. It is at present being 

 rendered in Chinese, and will soon be 



