Geographic Notes 



249 



NOTE ON THE ACtlVITY OF SHI- 

 SHALDIN VOLCANO 



IN March, 1903, the National Geo- 

 graphic Magazine published some 

 striking photographs of the mountains 

 on Unimak Island, Alaska, and gave a 

 vivid account of the nature of Shishal- 

 din's activity. 



It will not be without interest to add 

 some personal observations of a later 

 date. On September 14, 1904, while in 

 command of the Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey steamer Mc Arthur and while 

 passing Shishaldin at a distance of from 

 15 to 18 miles, I made the following 

 observations on the volcano, which was 

 visible for several hours during the 

 afternoon: 



The volcano was seen to be in a mild 

 state of activity. In addition to a con- 

 tinuous emission of dense white smoke 

 or steam, circular rings apparently sev- 

 eral hundred feet in diameter and of 

 remarkable symmetry and whiteness 

 were seen to emerge in puffs at short 

 intervals from the very top of the 

 mountain. 



Frequently two or three of these 

 would remain visible at the same time. 



Homer P. Ritter, 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 



COTTON CULTIVATION IN THE 

 BRITISH EMPIRE 



AN interesting geographic contribu- 

 tion is a British blue book of last 

 year on cotton cultivation in the British 

 Empire and Egypt, prepared by Prof. 

 W. Dunstan, director of the Imperial 

 Institute at South Kensington, with the 

 aid of his scientific staff (folio, 40 pages, 

 map, and diagrams). He discusses, in 

 all that broad belt from 40 degrees north 

 to 40 degrees south, the natural condi- 

 tions and past efforts for developing the 

 cotton industry in all the British pos- 

 sessions that seem at all fitted by nature 

 for growing this plant, with a brief 

 treatment of the characteristics of cot- 

 ton. He makes the fullest acknowl- 



edgment to American works on the 

 entire industry from the seed to the 

 finished product, and pays high tribute 

 to the knowledge and labor of our De- 

 partment of Agriculture. In fact, he 

 considers our "paramount" position 

 due to the operation of this branch of 

 the government. After this compre- 

 hensive survey of the matter, he finds 

 no hope of displacing our leadership, 

 but the most promising territory for 

 competition with us is in Africa, with 

 something additional in the East and 

 West Indies. But to any one acquainted 

 with our cotton area it is feared that 

 Professor Dunstan is not a safe guide. 

 In his ' ' sketch map of the cotton belt of 

 the world ' ' he actually has cotton grow- 

 ing in the United States up to the lati- 

 tude of New York and thence straight 

 across beyond the Mississippi River — 

 at least double the space on which it 

 can be possibly produced. He also has 

 cotton in China as far north as Peking. 

 It is most likely that such blunders 

 arose from employing a purely bookish 

 man to do practical work. C. M. 



WATER EROSION THEORY A 

 FALLACY 



With Apologies to Prof- H. L. Fairchild* 



THE arguments against the possi- 

 bility of erosion by running streams 

 may be summed up as follows : 



1. No one ever saw a stream eroding 

 its bed or banks. 



2. True, some streams are often 

 muddy, which is interpreted by certain 

 geologists as evidence of erosion, but 

 the amount of detritus thus carried is 

 trifling, if it is measured without preju- 

 dice. 



3. Rivers deposit detritus in certain 

 places ; therefore they cannot erode. 



4. In some places rivers flow over soft 

 material without moving it ; hence they 

 never erode. 



* Ice Erosion Theory a Fallacy, by Prof. H. 

 Fairchild. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., vol. 16, pp. 

 13-74. 



