NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL 
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university, college, or public body, requiring a German publication of a philosophical, scien- 
tific, technical or educational character, which it could conscientiously import in spite of 
the trading with the enemy aqt, might place an order for it with its London agent, who, 
under the above arrangement, would submit it to H. M. Stationery Ofhce, the latter securing 
and delivering it to that agent. 
The procedure would involve delay and some additional expense, the Stationery Ofi&ce 
charging a penny in a shilling for its labor in the matter 
The Department of State has recently instructed the Ambassador at Lon- 
don to report on the procedure which is followed by the British Government 
in securing needed publications of German origin with a view to making an 
effort to have a similar procedure put into effect here. 
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL 
REPORT OF THE GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY COMMITTEE 
At the organization of this Committee in January, 1917, its Chairman had 
been authorized by the Geological Society of America to appoint a Com- 
mittee which should be charged with the effort to fortify the instruction in 
geology given in civil engineering training in the technical schools of the 
country. With the approval of the Executive Committee of this Council, 
this function was taken over as proper to the present Committee, and in this 
capacity it has served as such Committee of the Geological Society of America. 
Upon this phase of its activity and on favorable results secured by assurances 
from various engineering schools of high standing, a report has already been 
made to the geologists of the country. Changed conditions since the entry of 
the country into the war may delay, for a while, the perfection of the program 
urged by the Committee. 
As a preliminary procedure, a census was made of all the geologists of the 
United States, with special reference to their training, their special investiga- 
tions in progress, special lines of research planned, effective lines of possible 
public service and the regions of the United States with whose topography 
and geology they had an intimate acquaintance. This has served as the ba- 
sis of correspondence, reference and inquiry in the course of the organization. 
To make clear to the military officers the nature of the service which geolo- 
gists could render, a brochure entitled What a Geologist Can Do in War was 
printed in a large edition and freely distributed among the officers. This 
was a very brief statement in entirely untechnical language, put together in 
convenient form for the pocket, and since the original circulation of it, the 
demand for copies from various sources has been large. 
1. Materials and Facilities for Rapid Road and Fortification Construction. — 
The purpose of this undertaking has been to bring together and organize for 
the use of the Engineers Corps, outstanding data bearing on the natural avail- 
able supply of material for quick road and fortification construction along the 
Atlantic seaboard; to indicate upon maps the locations of immediately avail- 
