Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 84.djvu/489

Rh In another attempt to report the contents of a paper on "The Influence of Depth on the Character of Metalliferous Deposits," the following obscurities occur:

In reporting one or two other papers it appears likely that the writers sought and obtained assistance from some competent source, securing much better results.

Only one of the professional papers was made a "feature," by the Toronto press. This was the paper presented to the congress by one of Toronto's own men, on the subject "An Estimate of Post-glacial and Interglacial time in North America." The "write-ups" of this paper demonstrate that the contents of at least some such papers can be profitably reported even in a daily newspaper, if the necessary effort and space be given to the task. Scientific discussion requires an accuracy of expression that can rarely be attained in speedy writing. To give as much space to other papers as to this one was evidently out of the question, and the editorial management certainly made a proper selection in "featuring" this paper. It treated a local subject of general anc! popular interest.

Under the head "general information about the congress," were classified such paragraphs as could not be placed in any of the other subjects mentioned in the list. These paragraphs include a variety of subjects, from an account of the history of the organization of the first International Geological Congress at Philadelphia in 1876, and an inventory of all the expenses connected with the present meeting, to the length of time taken for a morning nap by some of the attending geologists on Sunday, and the color of the laundry bill received by another visitor. The matter classified under this head consists of items of information secured by the reporters from any chance source about anything connected with the congress. By inquiry from a foreign member, one reporter appears to have learned the significance of the color scheme of the ribbons worn by many of the delegates on the pins bearing their names, and he wrote a neat little item on "How delegates in the Congress know what tongue to use in greeting." Another reporter, probably less obtrusive, wrote a half column under the heading "Politeness a Feature of Congress," evidently basing his observations on what he saw and heard, without making any inquiries. A paragraph which seems to have been based on some interview was headed "Typical Geologists are not Wealthy." Another article, which was probably written off-hand and as a "bluff," dilates on the guess that geologists