triangles extending along the southern portion of the Appalachian Mountains, and completing a continuous geodesic arc from Passamaquoddy Bay to Central Georgia. This work, with its five base-lines and numerous determinations of azimuth, latitude, and longitude, not only furnishes an exact framework for the survey of the states through which it passes, but is an important addition to our data for determining the figure and magnitude of the earth.

Pursuing our review of the work around the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, we find the survey completed from Cape Florida to the Tortugas and Cape Sable. Some long reaches are yet to be mapped between the latter point and Cedar Keys, on the west coast of Florida; but from this point to the Mississippi delta the survey of the shores is unbroken. West of this there are again several breaks until we reach Galveston, whence the survey is again complete to Corpus Christi. Offshore soundings are, however, still wanting along a portion of the coasts just cited. Deep soundings. have been taken most successfully in the Gulf, developing the form of this great basin, and, by the aid of temperatures at all depths, its regimen and circulation. Work has been in progress from Tampa Bay southward, in the vicinity of Cedar Keys, on Barataria Bay, from Corpus Christi towards the Rio Grande, and on the Mississippi River northward from New Orleans. The latter work has a special value in connection with the question of securing the banks from overflow, and will be vigorously pressed-a fresh point of departure having recently been taken near Helena, Ark., whence the survey will be carried to the head of ship navigation, and will be met near Memphis by a transcontinental chain of triangles, to which I shall presently refer.

On the Pacific coast the survey has been in progress in Southern California, especially on the Santa Barbara channels and adjacent islands-a work rendered very difficult and slow of progress by fogs and haze; also north of Point Conception, above Cape Mendocino; on the coast of Oregon, on the Columbia River, and in Puget Sound. Very noteworthy is the occupation of Mount Diablo and Mount Helena, peaks of the Coast range, as the westernmost stations of the great transcontinental chain, and the observation of angles upon stations in the Sierra Nevada, forming some of the

largest triangles ever observed, and clearing at a single step the interval between the Coast range and the Sierras, one of the diagonals in the quadrilateral being one hundred and sixty-two miles long. This is part of a general scheme for uniting in one system the Atlantic and Pacific coast triangu lations which about five years since was authorized by Congress; and here good progress has been made, not only by the requisite reconnoissance, but by actual triangulation.

On the southern branch of this transcontinental triangulation, the work has been actually executed from Atlanta across Georgia and Alabama, and laid out to the vicinity of Memphis. On the northern branch the scheme has been perfected to the Ohio River, and from a central point near St. Louis the triangulation has been carried westward halfway across Missouri, while the reconnoissance has been extended eastward across Illinois. Numerous interior positions have been accurately determined in latitude and longitude, by astronomical observations, and a line of levels of extreme precision between the two oceans begun. In authorizing this work, Congress provided that by furnishing the general triangulation, the aid of the Coast Survey organization should be given to those states that have provided for a topographical survey of their area. Under this provision, triangulation has progressed in the states of New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. It is to be regretted that all this work, looking directly towards a comprehensive scheme of a general trigonometrical survey of the whole country, has been interrupted by the failure of the last Congress to provide any means for its prosecution.

We cannot leave the Coast Survey without adverting to its perfect and beautiful maps, its "Coast Pilot," its tide-tables, published annually, and its magnetic charts; but any particular enumeration of these and other matters would carry us too far away from our present purpose.

Last spring the government instituted, under the Department of the Interior, an Entomological Commission, whose special object was to make a thorough examination into the locust evil and suggest remedies. Messrs. Riley, Packard, and Thomas were appointed, and divided between them the possible locust area, or the region west of the ninety-fourth

meridian. Mr. Riley chose for his examination the southern. half of the district east of the Rocky Mountains-that is, south of Denver, or the fortieth parallel; also the western part of Iowa, and, conjointly with Dr. Packard, British America. Dr. Packard took also the entire region west of the Rocky Mountain range; and Mr. Thomas the district east of it lying north of the fortieth parallel. They hope to arrive at a complete understanding of the nature of the breeding-places of this dreadful scourge; the natural limits of its distribution east, west, and north; the area of its past invasions; the exact nature of its migrations; and what species it is which is injurious upon the Pacific coast. They will also make experiments to determine the comparative value of preventive measures.

The commission was appointed late in March, and early in April Mr. Riley was on his way to Texas. In May and June he visited Kansas; in July, Colorado; in August and September, Ontario and Manitoba. Mr. Thomas made several visits to Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa. Dr. Packard chose the westernmost field, and made two journeys. On the first he went to Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah; then turned north through Eastern Idaho and Central Montana to Fort Benton, and followed the Missouri 1200 miles to the western limit of the Northern Pacific Railroad. On his second trip he travelled directly to California, and from Sacramento went by way of Shasta Valley and Portland, Oregon, to Wallula, on the Columbia, and then north through Washington Territory to the British boundary, returning to California by sea. The commission therefore covered in a cursory way the entire territory, securing a general view, which future seasons may enable them to fill to better advantage. The district examined by Dr. Packard was the newest, and in some respects the most important. On his first journey he collected data tending to prove that the breeding-ground of the locust (Caloptenus spretus) includes a vast region between longitude 102° W. and the Rocky Mountains, and even extending beyond them in certain parts of Montana. On his second journey he found he must place the limits of its range much farther, so as to include almost the entire country between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada; and the general result of his studies seems to be that the perma

nent breeding-grounds of this locust extend in one direction across the entire breadth of the United States, and even pass northward to the Upper Saskatchewan; and in the other reach from the Sierra Nevada to the limits between plain and prairie east of the Rocky Mountains. If this be true, the district outside their breeding-grounds which they periodically invade is a belt of country lying east of it, about five degrees in width, and less than half as large as their natural territory.

The results attained by the commission during its first year show conclusively the wisdom of its appointment, and lead us to believe that it will be continued until the complete history, habits, and distribution of this insect are known. Only in this way can we expect to cope with so terrible an enemy.

The only other government commission coming within our field is that of Fish and Fisheries, and of this it is simply necessary to say that with its headquarters at Salem, Mass., and subsequently at Halifax, it covered its usual routine of research in marine zoology and ocean physics on the coasts of Massachusetts and Nova Scotia.

In this connection, however, mention should be made of the Smithsonian explorations, on account of the intimate relations of this institution to the government.

The natural-history exploration of Alaska has for a long time been a special object of interest with the Institution, and as early as 1865 it induced the Western Union Telegraph Company, then at work in this region, to add to its corps several skilled naturalists and collectors. Their labors were directed by the Institution, and the results have become part of the history of the progress of American science. With the acquisition of Alaska in 1867, the special operations of the Institution were renewed; and, by the hearty co-operation of various departments of the government, additional results of great value have been secured.

The most important contributions of late years have been those furnished by Mr. Henry W. Elliott, special agent of the Treasury Department, on the Pribylov Islands; by Mr. William H. Dall, of the United States Coast Survey; and by Messrs. Turner and Nelson, attached to the Signal Service of the War Department. Mr. Lucien M. Turner, stationed

for several years at St. Michael's, Norton Sound, transmitted large numbers of birds and their eggs, skins and skeletons of mammals and other vertebrates. More important, perhaps, was an extensive series of specimens illustrative of the ethnological peculiarities of the Esquimaux and other tribes. The last of these collections (received in the summer of 1877) was particularly rich in Esquimaux carvings in bone, reproducing the characteristics of the carvings of the reindeer period as found in the caverns of France and Germany.

In the summer of 1877, Mr. Turner was superseded by Mr. E. W. Nelson, who, by the last advices, had made large collections and some interesting zoological discoveries. On this, as on other occasions, the chief signal officer of the army has joined heartily with the Institution in a thorough exploration of the physical and natural features of various unexplored regions. In the same connection, due credit should be given to the Alaska Commercial Company, which, contrary to the usual policy of corporations, has gone hand in hand with the Institution in its efforts to secure a thorough knowledge of the territory, by making large and valuable collections, by instituting meteorological observations, and by supplying mineralogical, zoological, and ethnological statistics.

Since December, 1876, Mr. Frederic A. Ober has been engaged, under the auspices of the Institution, in a systematic exploration of the natural history and ethnology of the West India Islands. In the course of this work he has thoroughly explored the islands of Dominica, Antigua, St. Vincent, Barbadoes, and other points; and his collections have already furnished several new species of birds and other animals. He has also forwarded many important observations and ethnological objects illustrative of the manner of life of the scattered survivors of the Carib race, which formerly occupied the group.

One of the most important archæological explorations of 1877 was conducted by the Rev. Stephen Bowers, among the ancient ruins of the islands and mainland of Santa Barbara County, Cal., in continuation of previous researches made by him in connection with Lieutenant Wheeler's expeditions. He has secured and forwarded to Washington many thou