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LONDON.

TI-tE G^TIFmC OF CEOLOSTS from all parts of the world whichassembled in Londonat the close of last September on

the invitation of theGeological Society of London, for the purpose of celebrating its centenary wasoneof morethanordinary
interest.

This Society,which is believedto be the oldestin existence, was foundedin the year 8o7, at a time when the science of geology,as we now understand it, couldbe scarcely said as yet to exist,and to this.Society is mainlyduethe conversion of geologyfrom a bodyof mere speculation to an orderedscience.

The aimof the Society wasexpressed in thefinepassage from Bacon whichit adopted as its motto:"If any manmakeit his

delight andcare notsomuch to cl!ng to anduse past discoveries

as to penetrate to what is beyond them,and to conquer not by talk but by toil, in short,not to have elegantand plausible theories, but to gainsureanddemonstrable knowledge, let such men (if it shallseem to themright) as true children of knowledge unite themselves with us." When we reflectthat, following this line of advance, the whole science of geology has grown up within the last one hundred

years, until now in everyUniversity in the worldvorthyof the

name the science finds an honorableplace in the curriculum,

xvhile in everycivilized country the Geological Surveyis a regular departmentof the governmentservice,and the services of the geologistare everywhereregardedas indispensable in conGeologists, mining engineers and othersinterested in appliedgeology are
invited to keep the editor informed of new investigations of mining districts or scientific studies undertaken by them, together with such other scientific and personalitems as may come to their notice.
733

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nectionwith the development of great mining enterprises,--we cannotbut be struck with the placewhich geologyhas won for

itself amongits sistersciences in the shott space of a single

century.

The occasion was,therefore, onewell worthyof commemoration.

Over one hundred delegatesfrom various leading scientific bodies in eighteenforeign countries,as well as from all the dependencies of Great Britain, together with an equal number of representatives from the leadingsocieties of Great Britain and Ireland, assembled in London on September25th, the meeting lastinguntil the 28th.

For the weekprevious to the meeting, however, a series of

five excursions had beenarrangedunder the leadership of various British geologists.Theseexcursions, eachof whichwasto occupy the entire week, were to visit different portionsof Great Britain, thus affordingthe visitorsan opportunity of seeingthosephases of the geology of the British Islesin which they were most interested. Only two or three of these excursions,however, were held, sincethe delegatesas a general rule arrived in England too late to avail themselves of them.

One of the mostimportant of the excursions was that which visitedthe EnglishLake District underthe able leadership of
Dr. J. E. Marr and Professor E. J. Garwood. The thirteen participantsstarted from Conistonand visited Ambleside,Keswick, Penrith, Shap, Appleby and Keisley. The district is one in which there is an enormousand most striking development

of volcanic flowswith ashbeds and breccia of Ordovician age

(Borrowdale series) as vell as a fine development of the Carboniferous. The Shap granite and its products of metamorphismare alsoof the highestinterest,as are alsocertainphysiographic problemswhich the district presents. In addition to

its geologicalinterest,the district is one which will ever be associated with the names of Ruskin,Wordsvorth and Coleridge, and is also from the standpointof landscape one of the most beautiful in England. The membersof the party who were fortunate enough to take part in this excursionfelt themselves

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greatly indebted tothe leaders ofthe party' foramost instructive

and enjoyable visit to an interesting district. In London, the Society'srooms at Burlington House were usedas headquarters for purposes of registration and as a general meetingplace. The lecture hall of the Society,however, was not large enough to accommodate the delegatesand the fellows of the Society. The formal meetingswere accordingly
held in the house of the Institute of Civil Engineers, Great

GeorgeStreet,Westminster, whichwas admirablysuitedfor this

purpose.

On the morningof September 26 the opening meetingwas held at Great George Street. The delegates of each nation were seatedby themselves in the alphabetical order of the names of their countries. The chair was taken by Sir Archibald Geikie, the President of the GeologicalSociety of London, and each national delegationwas presentedto him in turn, one representative of each nation conveyingfelicitations on the part of his country, in an addressin each caselimited to three minutes,after which the various membersof the delegation handed to the President the formal written address which had been sent through them by their respectiveinstitutions. In this way the whole proceeding was carried out with all due ceremony and at the sametime with dispatch. The largestdelegations were thosefrom France, Germany,the
United States and the British dependencies. These were ap-

proximately equal in numbers, that from France teing, however,

somewhatlarger than the others, consistingof nineteen delegates. Throughout the meeting, on account of their numbers as well as owing to the recentlyestablished ententecordiale,the French delegateswere given a place of special prominence,a placeas welcome as it was unusual in suchinternational meetings of geologists, their "doyen" being Professorde Laparent. The representatives from the United States were Professor W. M. Davis, Professor W. B. Clark, Dr. J. M. Clarke, Professor J.P. Iddings, Professor R. S. Tart, Professor S. W. Williston, Professor C. K. Leith, Dr. Arnold Hague, Dr.

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Marsden Manson, Professor J. J. Stevenson, Dr. Whitman

Cross, Dr. G. F. Becker and Dr. G. R. Weiland.

Canadawas represented by Dr. H. M. Ami and ProfessorF. D. Adams, and Mexico by Dr. Jos G. Aguilera. Dr. Arnold Hague conveyedthe congratulations of the geologistsof the United Statesin an excellent and appropriate speech.

Dr. Adams,speaking on behalf of the wholegroup of British Coloniesand Dependencies, had perhaps the most comprehensive task assignedto him, that of conveying the felicitations of 340,000,000persons in three minutes.
In the afternoon Sir Archibald Geikie delivered his address

on "The Stateof Geological Science at the time of the founding of the Geological Societyof London,"while in the eveningthe delegates were entertained at a magnificent dinnerin the Whitehall Roomsof the Hotel Metropole. On the followingday, September 27, arrangements weremade
for the visitors to see St. Paul's Cathedral, South Kensington

Museum,the British Museumin Bloomsbury Square,the Museum of the Geological Surveyandotherplaces of interest, while in the eveningthe Geological Club entertained the delegates at a charming dinner heldat the Criterion, whichwasfollowed by a very brilliantreception in the Museum at SouthKensington. On Saturday, September 28, a number of single dayexcursions

werearranged to various points of geological interest in the vicinity of London. On oneof these, to theNorthampton iron
oredistrict, thevisitors wereableto see something of theextensive

workings which arebeing carried onforthepurpose of obtaining

limonite and sideritein the district about Burton Latimer, Cran-

word,St.Johns andSlipton. The ores here lie in a well-defined bed,averaging about ninefeetin thickness, immediately above
the Lias. The ore is non-bessemer, containing from 25 to 56 per

cent.of iron. It liesvery nearthe surface and is won chiefly in open workings, the Northampton district producing annually about6,000,000tons. One of the most striking features in
connection with the winningof this ore is that, although so large an amountof ore is extracted,scarcely any signsof working

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737

are seen in driving through the country. This is due to the fact that the ore is worked in a narrow cut, the over-burden being strippedfrom the surfaceof the iron ore on one side and thrown across the cut on to the placefrom whichthe ore hasbeen removedon the other. In this way the working face advances

across the surfaceof a tract of fine agriculturalcountry,without in any way interfering with the progressof agricultural operations or with the fertility of the district, for the newly madeland becomes at once available again for agricultural purposesand furnishesa crop one year after the iron ore has been removed
from beneath it.

On Septemberv. 9 Mr. Whittaker conducted a large excursion attendedby over fifty persons, to Caterham,Godstone and berstow for the purposeof examining the Lower Cretaceous of
that district.

The meeting in London having been brought to a close, invitations were extended to the foreign and colonial delegates to visit the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge,these two great seats of learning dividing the visitors between them. At theseUniversitiesthe visitors for the most part went into resi- denceat the various colleges and were thus enabledto seesomething of collegelife in the universities. Here again.receptions and dinnerswere the order of the day, and the visitors experiencedthe samecordialand abounding hospitalitywhich throughout characterized the whole celebration.

At Cambridge honorary degreeswere conferred upon ProfessorH. Credner, ProfessorW. C. Broegger, ProfessorA. G. Nathorst, Professor A. A. de Lapparent and Dr. L. Dollo,
while at Oxford Professor A. Heim, Professor A. Reuss, ProfessorA. Lacroix, ProfessorC. Barrois, ProfessorA. Penck, as well as Dr. L. Mond, who was nominated by the chancellorat the last commemoration,but at that time was unable to attend, were similarly honored.

In view of the very prominent place in geologicalscience occupied by the United States, it was a matter of surpriseand regret that the name of no representative of that country ap-

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pearedin the list of those,uponwhom degrees were conferred by eitheruniversity.

Thesevery interesting visitsto the old universities brought

the celebration to a close.

This centenary celebration offered a verypleasant contrast to otherinternational gatherings, in several respects.Among these two are especially worthyof mention. In the first place,the delegates comingtogether by invitationwere all geologists of some note,and the work of the convention wasnot impeded by
the presence of a large numberof persons who had no interest in theproceedings beyond that of the merepleasure seeker. The omission of a longseries of papers wasalsoa distinct advantage, since in international gatherings the papers presented asa general rule are quite unworthyof the occasion and servechieflyto' interferewith the main purpose of the gathering,namely,an
opportunity of personalintercoursebetweenworkers who seldom

meet and whosefieldslie in widely separated portionsof the

world.
F. D. ADAxas.

Mi. Gv. olmv. I. A)^Ms,formerly of theUnitedStates Geological Survey,who has spentthe past three and one half years in Peru, employed by the Government and also in private work, returnedto Washingtonin November.

Mi. E. C. Str..iv^r, of theUnitedStates Geological Survey, was in Joplin,Mo., at the time of the Tenth Annual Mining Congress, makingplanspreparatory to takingup experimental laboratory work on the chemical processes of ore deposition. FFTx Taoss^r) r)oL.^lS, appropriated by the Fifty-eighth
Congress for the determination of the character and extent of the coal deposits in Indian Territory in the segregated landsof the

Five Civilized Tribes,is nowbeingexpended.The extentof the coals is beingtested by diamond drill operations, several drilling outfitsalreadybeingon the ground. It is expected that the
presentappropriationwill continuethe work about one and one

half years, wheninformation will beat handfor determining the

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739

rates at which thelandmaybesold or leased.A thorough knowledge of the undergroundstratigraphywill be obtainedby the keepingof accuratedetaileddrill records. The geologicwork is under the general chargeof Mr. JosephA. Taft, of the United States GeologicalSurvey, and the drilling under the immediate supervision of Mr. A. W. Thompson,wlxo has had considerable experiencein diamond drilling for coal in the southernIndiana field previousto his presentengagement. C. W. I-IAYv. S, Chief Geologistof the Federal Survey, returned to the officethe middle of November,after having spent the greater part of the summer in the field. I-Iis most recep_t work was a visit to the bauxite deposits in Georgia and Alabama, and to a numberof recentlydiscovered. deposits of the sameore in Tennessee which considerably expandthe extent of the depositspreviously known.
DI. D.Aw) T. Dx, vho attended the International Petroleum

Congress in Roumania, and hasreturned to Washington for the winter, reportsmostimportant advances in the technology of
petroleumrefinement, which will be of the highestimportance to the petroleum industryin this country. Dr. Day is now devoting histimeto the development of moreeconomical methods of the utilizationof crudepetroleum.

Mx.J. S. DxL.EI, of the FederalSurvey,assisted by G. F. Kay, was engaged in investigations in Oregonduring the
pastsummer. The Riddlesquadrangle wascompleted and work

begun on the Grants Passquadrangle. A special investigation wasmadeof several townships in the Siskiyou NationalForest in whichcoalclaims hadbeen reported.A reporton these townships is in preparation, samples of the coalbeingtested at the Surveylaboratories in Pittsburg and Denver. Also they examined a small mineral beltin T3xS, R9&oW , about5 miles northwest of Grants Pass, in which thereare interesting copper and goldprospects and placers. His reporton this belt hasalo readybeengivencirculation in the newspapers.
W. T. Gmswo.), whohasworked for several years in the oil fieldsof Pennsylvania and Ohio, hasresigned from the U.S.

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Geological Surveyand enteredthe oil business, with offices at

Pittsburg, Pa.

COOPERATIVE GEOLOGIC WORKIN PENNSYLVANIA this year was underthe directionof Geo. H. Ashley. Besides visitingthe various parties in the field, Mr. Ashley gave some time to stratigraphic problems in the Punxsutawney and Houtsdale quadrangles, and alsomadetrips to coalfieldsin Illinois, Kentucky and West Virginia. Chas. Butts mappedthe geologyof the Warren quadrangle, E. F. Linesfinished the Clarionquadrangle,
and G. C. Martin, F. B. Peck and M. J. Munn completedthe

geologyof the Carnegiequadrangle. Also Mr. Munn finished the geologyof the Claysvilleand Sewickleyquadrangles and Mr. Martin obtainedadditionaldata on the geologyof the Burgettstown quadrangle. When this material is published there will be made availablea great amount of detailed information concerning the occurrence of coal, gas, and oil in the extensivefieldsof westernPennsylvania.
F. W. DEWoLF, E. F. LIrEs, and E. F. BURCHAmare investigating coal, clay, and other mineral resourcesin Illinois under the direction of State Geologist H. F. Bain. Their addressis State Geological Survey,Urbana, Ill.

MESSRS. G. O. SMITH, A. H. Brooks, M. R. Campbell,E. W. Parker, W. Lindgren, F. L. Hess, and C. E. Siebenthal,of the U.S. Geological Survey, attended the Ioth annual Mining Congress at Joplin,Mo., the weekof November I. WHITA CROSS returned to Washington early in November after spending the summerin Europe.

A. J. COLLIER, OF THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, who examined the new tin prospectnear Spokane, Washington this summer,reportsthat on the dumpthere is probablythe biggest pile of tin ore in the United States,and that the prospect justifies further exploitation,althoughthe depositis irregular and indefinite. The occurrence of tin is uniqueat this locality,the association of mineralsbeing an unusualone for tin ores. Development of the prospect will progress through the winter and Mr. Collier will preparea brief report for early publication.

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Mt. S. F. Eros was engaged during the past summerin Mexico in a geological surveyof the Cananea mining districtfor

the Cananea Consolidated Copper Company.He was assisted

by J. M. Boutwell,L. C. Graton,and W. H. Emmons.

WLLs T. L,

of the U.S.

GeologicalSurvey, spentthe

summer in an investigation of theGrand Mesacoalfieldin western Colorado. This fieldis an immense lava-covered mesalying between the Grandand Gunnison rivers,a regionas yet very little known. Mr. Lee made a topographic and geologic map covering several hundred square milesalongthe outcrop of the coal-bearing and contiguous formations. Numerous large beds of coal ranging from low to high grade were found. In the
eastern part of the field on the slopeof Elk Mountainsthere are at least 3 workablebeds,the largestof which is 4o feet thick.

Another bedis 4 feetthickandseveral others range in thickness from 8 to o feet. Theseare largelybituminous and someare coking coals. In thevicinity of themountains adjacent to igneousactivity theyareturned to anthracite.Activemining in this

fieldis onlyjustbegun andprospecting is progressing rapidly. The landsurveys, however, are in suchstatethat prospectors cannot make finalentryon land. This hinders development of
the field,and a resurvey by the General Land Officeis needed.

Thefield promises to beoneof theimportant coal producers of

the western States.

Mt.B^L WL-s, of theU.S. Geological Survey, was absent onleave during August andSeptember engaged under the auspices oftheSmithsonian Institution in a study of thestructure of the Alps. Observations in the FrontAlpsbetween Lake
Geneva and Lake Thun were madein Part with Professor A. Rothpletz, of Munich,andconferences werehad with Professor

Eduard Suess at Vienna, Professors Lugeon andJaccard at Lausanne, andProfessors Haugandde Margerie at Paris.

Overthrusts of great displacement and in part probably of late

Pliocene datewerestudied andin so far the modern viewsof

Alpine structure appear to be sustained. Buttheoverfolds, which are given a dominant place inthe theories ofLugeon and

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his school,appear rather to be subordinatephenomena, and the piling-up of a succession of nappesde recouvrement in the hypotheticalsynthesis of the Alps doesnot seemto be justifiedby any facts observed. The structuresare apparentlythose of major and minor thrusts of the Scotch type, complicated in the Front Alps, at least, by the intersectionof earlier thrust planes on whichthe movement wassoutheast by later thrustplanes on which
the advance was northwest. The results of Mr. Willis's observa-

tions are to appearin a report to the $mithsonianInstitution.