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PALEONTOLOGY.

The assistance afforded us by specialists in this branch of geology during the second year of the work of the Survey was not only continued but greatly increased during the year that has just closed. In this, as in our topographic work, we are under renewed obligations to the United States Geological Survey.

In reply to a request for their assistance in this line of work, I received a letter from the Director, promising full co-operation, and in the work of the whole year the promptness of the determinations and replies to inquiries by every member of the Survey with whom we have had correspondence have been of greatest value to us.

The materials sent were fossils of various kinds, the identification of which were necessary for the correct determination of the geological age of the beds from which they were taken, but in some instances more detailed work was necessary.

The collections made by Professor Cummins, during the field season of 1890, contained a large number of new Nautiloid forms, and they were sent to Professor Alpheus Hyatt for study and description. His report, with illustrations and descriptions of the new forms, taken together with that accompanying the Second Annual Report, contains a far larger number of species than have been gotten together in any publication previously.

A number of specimens of fossil plants which were taken by Professor Cummins from the Permian rocks of North Texas were sent to Dr. I. C. White, of Morgantown, W. Va., who identified them, and presented the results of his work in a paper before the Geological Society of America, at the meeting at Columbus, in December. The results are of great interest, proving as they do the distribution of Permian plants of the same varieties from Pennsylvania and West Virginia to Texas.

The vertebrate fossils collected by Professor Cummins were sent to Professor E. D. Cope for determination. They were found to be of considerable interest, and a paper on them by Professor Cope accompanies this report.

Dr. W. P. Clarke, of Johns-Hopkins University, who is making a special investigation of the Echinodermata, has studied the forms taken from the Cretaceous of Texas, id="txu-oclc-5235917-3-a043a" rend="roman"/> several of which are new. Descriptions of a number of these were published in the Johns-Hopkins University circulars.

The collection of fossils which has been sent to Dr. Roemer embraced a number of forms from the Lower Cretaceous. He was at work on them during my visit to Breslau in October, but his death in December left the work uncompleted.

The sub-fossils found by Prof. Cummins on the western side of the Staked Plains were submitted to Dr. Sterki and his report will be found in its place among the accompanying papers.

CHEMICAL LABORATORY.

Mr. J. H. Herndon was in charge of the chemical laboratory until May 6th, when his services were discontinued and Mr. Magnenat given charge. Mr. Magnenat was without assistance until after my return to Austin in November, when I appointed Mr. Goodall H. Wooten as assistant. These gentlemen have carried on the entire work of the laboratory, a general statement of which will be found in another place in this report.

Immediately upon the organization of the Geological Survey, I issued Circular No. 1, dated October, 1888, giving a statement of the law concerning the analyses of ores and materials of supposed economic value, and the terms on which they would be made by the Survey for those who desired such analyses for personal or private use. This was never intended to be applied to analyses of such a character as were of direct interest to the Survey; but as there seems to be a misunderstanding as to its exact meaning, it may be best to explain the practice of the Survey in this matter.

The plain intention of the law organizing the Survey was the benefit of the people of Texas—to establish a place where citizens could send any material occurring on their property, and secure an intelligent estimate of its value at the least possible outlay. This does not mean a laboratory for the purpose of making money or competing for patronage with the professional analytical chemists and assayers of the State.

In the rules which I established for the guidance of the laboratory work I took all this in consideration, and divided the work on such material as was sent in by persons not connected with the Survey into two general classes.