Personal and Scientific News. 
843 
physiography, one an elementary and the other an advanced 
course, are to be given by Prof. W. M. Davis; these are in¬ 
tended especially for teachers of geography in secondary 
schools. 
Maryland Geological Survey. 
The legislature of Maryland in March passed a bill estab¬ 
lishing a geological survey of that state. The Survey is under 
the direction of a' commission composed of the following 
gentlemen: Lloyd Lowndes, governor; Robert P. Graham, 
comptroller; Daniel C. Gilman, president of the Johns Hop¬ 
kins University; and R. W. Silvester, president of the Mary¬ 
land Agricultural College. At a meeting of this commission 
held in Annapolis on March 25th Dr. William Bullock Clark, 
professor of inorganic geology in the Johns Hopkins Univer¬ 
sity, was appointed state geologist. 
The Survey is / planning first to take up the subject of build¬ 
ing stones, and in this work will have the assistance of Prof. 
Geo. P. Merrill of the National Museum. At the same time 
geological mapping and other investigations will be carried 
on. The Survey will of course add largely to the field facil- 
ites which the students of geology in the Johns Hopkins 
University will enjoy, and it is intended that the work shall 
be largely done by them with the co-operation of outside ex¬ 
perts on special points. 
Ths bill establishing the Survey is entitled “ An act to 
establish a state geological and economic survey, and to make 
provisions for the preparation and publication of reports and 
maps to illustrate the natural resources of the state, together 
with the necessary investigations preparatory thereto.” The 
bill reads as follows: 
“Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, that there is 
hereby established a State Geological and Economic Survey which 
shall be under the direction of a commission composed of the Governor, 
the Comptroller, the president of Johns Hopkins University and the 
president of the Maryland Agricultural College, who shall serve without 
compensation, but shall be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in 
the performance of their official duties; and the said commissioners 
shall have general charge of the survey, and shall appoint as superin¬ 
tendent of the same a geologist of established reputation, and upon his 
nomination such assistants and employees as they may deem necessary : 
and they shall also determine the compensation of all persons employed 
by the survey, and may remove them at pleasure. 
Sec. 2. And be it enacted, that the survey shall have for its objects: 
(1). An examination of the geological formations of the State, with 
special reference to their economic products, viz : building stones, 
clays, ores and other mineral substances. (2). An examination and 
classification of the soils and a study of their adaptability to particular 
crops. (3). An examination of the physical features of the state with 
reference to their practical bearing upon the occupations of the people. 
(4). The preparation of special geological and economic maps to illus¬ 
trate the resources of the state. (5). The preparation of special reports, 
with necessary illustrations and maps, which shall embrace both a 
