376 
Frank Carney 
This is a noteworthy example of international co-operation in 
science. Having a standard map of definite scale and projection, all 
the continents may be represented in their relative size; and from 
such standard maps larger or smaller ones may be drawn, giving a 
true representation, because the land areas will be shown in the same 
proportion. 
Climate of the Geologic Past. Ecology teaches us today's correla- 
tion between organisms and their environment. We expect the most 
successful functioning of life forms only in a suitable combination of 
light, heat, moisture, food, and neighbors, a favorable habitat. In a 
dim way, students long ago recognized in the fossil record anomalies 
when referred to the present physical conditions of the fossil's 
geographical location. It was inferred, therefore, that in the progress 
of geologic time there have come changes in climate, or at least in the 
distribution of mean annual temperature, in particular parts of 
the earth's surface. A similar inference has been drawn from 
wide-spread glaciation. Both deductions are rather broad 
generalizations. 
Since 1890 there has been a tendency in these matters to seek the 
concrete and specific. Wherever possible more exact methods have 
been applied to the hazy interpretations of the past. This application 
is limited, for the present at least, to the recent geologic past, and the 
corroboration of human history, wherever possible, adds welcome 
conviction. Thus is the field exceedingly limited. However, en- 
couraging results have been secured particularly through the work 
of Ellsworth Huntington in a study of strand lines, and of the growth 
made by very old trees, the sequoias; the latter respond to, and, in 
their rings of seasonal growth, register the conditions of moisture; 
the former register variations in the level of water bodies in inland 
basins. Quite recently, Mr. Huntington is attempting to correlate 
the precipitates of desiccating water with the other two lines of 
evidence. 
This type of investigation is producing results which accord with 
the deductions made by the paleontologist from the expanding, 
dwarfing, or disappearance of faunas; it throws light on the origin of 
gypsum and other locally deposited salts; and helps to elucidate 
several stratigraphic features. 
The Age of the Earth. When one arrays the estimates of this 
sphere's antiquity, made by workers in various phases of science, he 
must conclude that mother earth is either a coy maiden, an indifferent 
