71 
An Unjust Attack — Frazer. 
ly commended by some of the best judges in the world, and it should 
appear in the forthcoming volume by right of the information it contains, 
which can not elsewhere be obtained. 
Major Powell objects to the use made of his name by attaching it to the 
report of the American Committee. Some of the members of the Ameri¬ 
can Committee objected to this also but those who insisted upon it did so 
from outward respect to major Powell, and these were in the majority. 
He thinks that the subject matter of the report is not of such a nature 
that a deliberative body can determine it by vote, and every one will agree 
with him. The subject matter was determined so far as anything in 
geology can be by the work of many persons in the field, a d a com¬ 
parison of their results. Wo votes on the subject matter, (for example on 
the truth or error of this or that theory of the relations of the rocks,) has 
ever been taken or was meant to be taken. The votes in the committee 
have had exclusive reference to the fitness of a report to go out over the 
names of the Reporters and their associate members of the sub-committees. 
The subjects considered were very similar to those which were con¬ 
sidered in the English report to the Berlin session of the Congress, but 
from all possible American standpoints. As is well known the Congress 
of London adopted a new and fair method of taking votes but actually 
took none. Major Powell says “ther e is no body of men so wise or power¬ 
ful that it can establish the science of geology by authorityand he 
might have added no body of men outside of a few official geological 
surveys have been foolish enough to make the attempt. He adds, “The 
papers which appear in the report were not presented to the committee 
in printed form while I was present, but most of them merely in abstract, 
and the Reporters finally published what they severally desired.” The 
reports on the Archean, Devonic, Carbonic, Mesozoic and Marine Cenozoic 
were read in extenso in his presence twice—once at Spring Lake, and once 
at New Haven—as they were finally printed. His own report made six out 
of the eight; and this would have been printed exactly as it was read at 
New York (as an abstract) and New Haven, had he not withdrawn it after 
it was in print. The only two which were not in exactly the condition in 
which they finally appeared at New Haven (which was the place of the 
last meeting that major Powell attended) were Prof. Winchell’s report on 
the Lower Paleozoic and Prof. Cope’s report on parts of the Mesozoic and 
of the Interior Cenozoic. And even these were nearly the same. The 
difference in the report on the Lower Paleozoic consisted in adding the 
digest of Mr. Walcott’s work which the editor of the reports was able to 
get Mr. 'Walcott’s assent to only late in May, and which was appended to 
the report B which major Powell heard read, together with a note on the 
same of four and a half pages by the Reporter. 
Major Pow r ell adds, “The paper I prepared was brief, but was, I thought, 
pertinent to the subject in hand; but evidently it did not meet with the 
approval of the committee, for other reporters included the consideration 
of the Quaternary formations in their papers; that is, the members of the 
committee were determined that the Quaternary formations should be 
discussed in such a manner as to exhibit a supposed best classification, or 
