Biographical Notice 



few years before, an active volcano, 

 and offered an opportunity for the 

 study of recent eruptive rocks. The 

 possible glaciers upon Shasta were 

 discussed, as was also the age of the 

 gold-bearing rock-zone of the Sierra, 

 and the desirability of a geological 

 section across the range. Incident- 

 ally, the larger scheme of a transcon- 

 tinental section was mentioned. This 

 had been the dream of Whitney in 



1862, when the construction of the 

 Pacific railways was actively begun. 

 He thought that when once a section 

 across California had been completed 

 the railroad companies might be in- 

 clined to pay for making one along 

 their lines, across the interior basin 

 and the Rocky Mountains, to the 

 great plains. 



" We ascended Lassen peak twice, 

 on the 26th and 29th of September, 



1863. The first time the day was un- 

 propitious for good barometric work. 



318 



