Page:The Journal of geology (IA journalofgeology21894univers).pdf/117

though, as has been shown, it is very unwise to decrease the requisite appropriation for a geological survey, yet if, under such circumstances, it is necessary to do so, the office of state geologist and its incumbent, if he is efficient, should nevertheless be retained, for he possesses the facts on unfinished work and a general experience of the region which will mean many thousands of dollars to the state when the survey is reorganized.

It is to be sincerely hoped that the Board of Directors of the Missouri Survey will follow the wisest course. If the finances of the state require the reduction that has been made in the appropriation for the geological survey, let this be only temporary, and let the office of state geologist and its present representative be retained. Mr. Winslow has held this position since the present survey was inaugurated; he has managed the affairs of the survey in a most energetic and capable manner, and the volumes on coal, iron, mineral waters, and other subjects attest to the activity of himself and his staff. Much of this work he has accomplished in the face of the many difficulties that no one but those who have had personal connections with state geological surveys can appreciate; and yet his publications speak for themselves in their completeness and the thoroughly scientific methods with which he has treated the problems before him. He has already performed a great service to the people of Missouri and the public in general; and it is to be hoped that the Board of Directors will not permit the state to lose the man who is more necessary than any other to the successful completion of the geological survey. We recur to the hope expressed at the outset that the report of discontinuance is erroneous.

The Boston meeting of the Geological Society of America was remarkable for the large number of papers submitted, fifty-nine, and for the unusual geological activity which these indicated. In an uncommon degree the papers represented recent active investigations. To only a slight extent were they rehearsals of