November 13, 1885.] 



SCIENCE. 



425 



state geologist $4,000 a year, as he does in several 

 cases, the geologist is so much better off." No 

 state geologist has ever received a cent of salary 

 from the U. S. geological survey. In connec- 

 tion with the above charge, the names of all 

 the geologists and assistant geologists in the 

 geological survey are given, together with their 

 salaries : and the statement is made in such a 

 manner as to make it appear that they are all state 

 geologists, when, in fact, not one of them is em- 

 ployed by a state. 



It is charged that Captain Clarence E. Button, 

 of the ordnance corps, receives his salary as cap- 

 tain in the army, and also a salary as geologist in 

 the geological survey. Captain Button receives 

 his salary as captain in the army, but does not 

 receive a salary as geologist ; and his detail as an 

 officer in the geological survey is made under 

 authority of a specified act of congress, and his 

 detail has been extended by the present secretary 

 of war. 



It is charged that collections of fossils which 

 cost in one instance $50,000, and in another $100,- 

 €00, instead of being deposited in the national 

 museum, have been diverted to the private muse- 

 ums of Professor Marsh of Yale college, and Pro- 

 fessor Cope of Philadelphia. The geological sur- 

 vey has fossils in the hands of Professor Marsh of 

 Yale college. It also has fossils in the hands of 

 Professor Newberry of New York, Professor Fon- 

 taine of the University of Virginia, Professor 

 Leidy of Philadelphia, and various other persons 

 throughout the United States. The collections of 

 the geological survey are sent to specialists for 

 their examination, and the statute organizing the 

 geological survey contemplates this by providing 

 that when the specialists have finished their work 

 on the collections, they shall then be deposited in 

 the national museum. 



It is charged that $112,000 was paid out for sal- 

 aries in excess of the amount appropriated for that 

 purpose last year. There is no truth, or color of 

 truth, in the statement. 



CRUISE OF THE CORWIN. 

 Those interested in arctic matters will recall the 

 pleasure afforded by a modest octavo report, issued 

 by the Revenue marine bureau in 1881, on the ex- 

 plorations of the Corwin during the season of 1880. 

 The following year the officers of this gallant httle 

 cutter seem to have outdone themselves, and, 

 among a variety of creditable explorations, had 

 the honor of being the first civihzed men to set 



Rejjort of the cruiae of the U.S. revenue steamer Thomas 

 Corv:in, in the Arctic Ocean, 1881. By Capt. C. L. Hooper, 

 II. S. R.M., commandiQg, Washington, Government, 1884 

 [1885]. 147 p., Ulustr., 16 pi. 4°. 



foot on Wrangell Island, afterwards more com- 

 pletely surveyed by the officers of the U.S.S. Rodg- 

 ers. This land, first reported by the Chukchi to 

 Russian traders, was first seen by Kellett, who saw 

 the tops of the highest land, and called it Plover 

 Island, located it erroneously, and, having reported 

 much more land which was only mirage, his 

 whole discovery feU into discredit, if not oblivion. 

 The land was first accurately described, named, 

 and located clearly, by Capt. Long, of the whal- 

 ing fleet, who did not land, — an honor reserved for 

 Hooper and his party, and afterward for the Rodg- 

 ers party. 



The present report gives in detail an account of 

 the voyage, and is profusely illustrated by cuts in 

 the text, of a not very accurate or always useful 

 kind, and a number of heliotypes from photographs 

 made by Nelson. These are poor, considered 

 merely as pictures, for the difficulties under which 

 they were taken were great ; but intrinsically 

 they are extremely valuable. They contain por- 

 traits of numerous Innuit, Tsau-chu (or Chukchi), 

 and ethnological objects of special interest. The 

 text contains much that is of interest to the gen- 

 eral reader, but is less useful to the student than 

 the small report of the previous voyage. Probably 

 nothing was farther from Capt. Hooper's mind 

 than the idea, that, by incorporating material from 

 other sources, he was doing an injury to his report. 

 It is quite true, however, that in many cases it is 

 impossible to determine whether a given statement 

 is the result of personal observation by himseK, or 

 an inference from the observations of others ; and 

 the value of the work as a contribution to knowl- 

 edge is seriously impaired by this state of things. 

 There is some hasty generalization, and rarely a 

 distinct error, as in the statement that the Asiatic 

 Innuit have entirely disappeared except at East 

 Cape (p. 100). It is well known that they have not 

 disappeared, and are not likely to, and that the short 

 stay of the Corwin party at any one pomt often 

 did not enable them to learn to which of the two 

 races their casual visitors belonged. The long 

 delay of publication, also, has made some of the 

 statements obsolete, especially in regard to cur- 

 rents, which Capt. Hooper discusses at some length, 

 and comes to conclusions which would be to some 

 extent modified, if reviewed to-day. 



The birds, fishes, etc., were treated by Nelson, 

 Bean, Rosse, and others, in a pubhcation which 

 appeared some time since. In the present volume 

 are some useful meteorological summaries from 

 Nelson's note-books, and a characteristic effusion 

 on glaciers, by John Muir. This gentleman's de- 

 votion to glaciers and their work is sufficiently 

 well known to American geologists to need no 

 serious attention here. Foreign readers, however, 



