358 THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 



wonderful universe. This association marks the stage already 

 reached in this interpretation, but in its very title it indicates 

 that the work is incomplete; that it is still in progress. 



" Its founders, fifty years ago, clearly saw that they were in the 

 earl} r morning of a growing day. The most unexpected and 

 marvelous progress has been made since that date, but as yet 

 there is no occasion and no prospect of an occasion to modify 

 the title. We are still laboring for the advancement of science, 

 for the discovery of new truth. The field, which is the universe, 

 was never so white to the harvest as now, but it is still early 

 morning on the dial of science. It is possible that we could 

 make ourselves more interesting to the general public if we oc- 

 casionally foreswore our loyalty to our name and spent a por- 

 tion of our time in restating established truths. Our contribu- 

 tions to the advancement of science are often fragmentary and 

 devoid of special interest to the outside world ; but every one 

 of them has a place in the temple of knowledge, and the wise 

 master builders, some of whom appear in every generation, will 

 find them all and use them all at last, and then only will their 

 true value come to light.'" 



The papers of geographic interest were principally read before 

 the sections of Geology and Geography, Social and Economic 

 Science, and Anthropology. Among such a large number of 

 important and original contributions it is impossible to more 

 than indicate the titles of the following: 



Before the section of Geology and Geography: "The.Pre- 

 Lafayette (Tennesseean) Baselevel," by \V J McGee ; " The 

 Geology of Columbus and Vicinity," by Edward Orton ; "The 

 Cape Fear Section in the Coastal Plain " and " Some Geological 

 Conditions Favoring Water-power Developments in the South 

 Atlantic Region," by J. A. Holmes ; "A Consideration of the 

 Interpretation of Unusual Events in Geological Records," by 

 Frederick W. Simoncls. Before the section of Social and Eco- 

 nomic Science : " Corn as a Factor in the Wheat Problem," by 

 John Hyde ; " The Increase in the Median Age of the Popula- 

 tion of the United States since 1850," by Mansfield Merriman; 

 "Trusts: A Study in Industrial Evolution," by H. T. New- 

 comb; " Moral Tendencies of Existing Social Conditions," by Dr 

 Washington Gladden. Before the section of Anthropology : "A 

 Comparative Study of the Physical Structure of the Labrador 

 Eskimos and the New England Indians," by Frank Russell; 



