SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 
99 
YIH. Hydrous Magnesian and Aluminous Rocks , containing little or no 
Feldspar: including Chlorite schist, Talcose schist, Serpentine, Ophiolyte, 
Pyrophyllite schist, &c. — Sillimans Journal , December, 1878. 
American Surveys. — In compliance with an order of the American Senate 
a Committee of the National Academy of Sciences has recently submitted 
to the President of the Senate its report upon the scientific surveys of 
the territories of the United States, and on the best methods of conducting 
all surveys of a scientific character under the War or Interior Department, 
and the surveys of the Land Office. The surveys particularly referred to 
in this report, are the Geographical surveys west of the one hundredth 
meridian under the War Department, the United States Geographical and 
Geological Surveys of the Territories, and of the Pocky Mountain region, 
under the Interior Department, the system of Land surveys under the 
supervision of the Land Office, and the coast and Geodetic surveys, one of 
the most important works now in progress in the interior. The objects of 
these surveys are: 1. An accurate geodetic survey; 2. A general and 
geographical reconnaissance ; 3. Land parcelling surveys ; and 4. The economic 
classification and valuation of the public domain. To these should be 
added the gradual completion of a general accurate topographical map of the 
United States, and all may be included under two distinct and separate 
heads, namely, Surveys of Mensuration, and Surveys of Geology and eco- 
nomic resources of the soil. 
The report first considers the operations of the existing surveys of mensuration, 
which are now in progress under five different and independent organisations, 
and between which there is no co-ordination, the results of their work showing 
many contradictions, and moreover involving unnecessary expenditure. These 
five surveys are the coast and geodetic survey ; the geographical surveys 
west of the one-hundredth meridian ; the two topographical surveys under 
the Interior Department ; and the Land Survey ; but, as it is evident that 
both land parcelling and topographical surveys, to be sufficiently exact, 
must be placed upon a single rigid geodetic foundation, the report considers 
that these should be united into one comprehensive system, and recom- 
mends the coast and geodetic survey as best prepared to execute the entire 
mensuration required. It would therefore transfer that survey from the 
Treasury Department to the Department of the Interior, retaining its 
original field of operations, and giving it also the entire mensuration of the 
public domain under the name of the United States Coast and Interior 
Survey. This organisation would then embrace, in addition to its former 
work, a geodetic survey of the whole public domain, a topographical survey 
comprising detailed topographical work and rapid reconnaissance, and land- 
parcelling surveys. 
As, however, this survey would not be called upon to notice the geolo- 
gical structure, natural resources and products of the territories surveyed 
the report recommends that an independent organisation should be 
established under the Department of the Interior, to be known as the 
United States Geological Survey, and to be charged only with the study 
of the geological structure and economic resources of the public do- 
mains. 
With the inauguration of these two surveys the report recommends the 
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