380 Recent Literature. [May, 
of inestimable value by bringing the investigators of the conti- 
nent into personal contact with one another. Every scientific 
man has not only new facts to present, but also theories and 
hypotheses which may not be sufficiently complete, or justified by 
positive knowledge, to be put into print, yet it is precisely these 
vague ideas which are the most valuable stimulants of discovery, 
because they are the store from which new and sound ideas can 
be selected. By no other process can this selection be rendered 
so efficient as by personal discussion with others whose studies 
are in the same direction. If the suggested meeting be actually 
held, it will certainly prove as profitable as delightful. There is | 
no room to doubt that on our part we would be lavish of pains to 
make the meeting successful, and we think our reputation for hos- 
pitality isa guarantee that our guests will have a pleasant as 
well as a profitable visit. 
:0: 
RECENT LITERATURE. 
GeNTH AND Kerr's Minerats or Nortu Carorina.—It is per- 
haps not generally known to the readers of this journal, that the 
State of North Carolina has nominally carried on a geological 
survey continuously for a greater number of years than any other 
of the United States. The bill under which the present State 
geologist was appointed, and in substance has carried on his sur- 
vey, was enacted during the legislative session of 1851-52. Pro- 
fessor Ebenezer Emmons was appointed State geologist in 1852, 
which office he held until his death, in 1863. His son Dr. 
Emmons, Jr., was then nominated, while the present incumbent, 
Professor W. C. Kerr, was appointed in 1864. It is of course 
obvious that little or no geological work proper was done or could. 
have been done from 1860 to 1866. It is not our purpose here to 
refer to the various reports of Professors Emmons and Kerr, pub- 
lished at different times during the progress of the survey, but to 
call attention to the advance chapter of the report now being 
published. 
1 The Minerals and Mineral Localities of North Carolina, being Chapter I of = 
Second Volume of the Geology of North Carolina. By Professors F. A. Genth an 
. C. Kerr, Raleigh, 1881. 
