PROCEEDINGS 
OF THE 
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
Volume 2 APRIL 15. 1916 Number 4 
PRELIMINARY REPORT UPON THE POSSIBILITY OF CON- 
TROLLING THE LAND SLIDES ADJACENT TO THE 
PANAMA CANAL 
By the Committee of the National Academy of Sciences Appointed 
at the Request of the President of the United States 
Dated. February 4, 1916. Received. March 16. 1916 
INTRODUCTION 
The Committee of the National Academy of Sciences, appointed No- 
vember 18, 1915, at the request of President Woodrow Wilson ''to con- 
sider and report upon the possibility of controlKng the slides which are 
seriously interfering with the use of the Panama Canal," submits this 
its preliminary report. 
The Committee as originally appointed consisted of thirteen persons. 
For various reasons four (Messrs. A. L. Day, G. F. Becker, C. D. 
Walcott, and R. S. Woodward) were unable to visit the canal and par- 
ticipate in the deliberations of the Committee. Those who took part 
in the preparation of this report are as follows : 
C. R. Van Hise, Whitman Cross, J. R. Freeman, 
H. L. Abbott, R. C. Carpenter, J. F. Hayford, 
J. C. Branner, a. p. Davis, H. F. Reid. 
These members, who will be spoken of as ' the Committee' in the re- 
port, sailed from New Orleans December 11, and arrived at Panama 
December 19. All spent two weeks in the Canal Zone, and three of 
them several days longer, working upon the problem submitted to them. 
The part of the Canal cut between Bas Obispo and Pedro Miguel 
will be called the Gaillard Cut in accordance with the ofhcial use of 
that term. The deepest part of the Gaillard Cut, at the continental 
divide, about one mile in length, will be called the Culebra District. 
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