PROGRESS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 497 



the geological view; but it would be unfortunate if, in so doing, he 

 did not perceive the interchangeable relations of these two methods 

 of investigation. 



There is to my understanding a great profit that has been gained 

 from conceiving the whole body of our science in the way thus sug- 

 gested. Branches such as meteorology and terrestrial magnetism, 

 which we ordinarily treat as parts of physical geography and thus 

 associate with present time, are seen really to have their ancient as 

 well as their modern, their geologic as well as their geographic 

 phases. We can gain some hints as to ancient meteorology, for we 

 find records of paleozoic raindrops, of remote glacial deposits, and 

 we hope yet to find evidence concerning the distribution of early 

 climatic zones. As far as ancient records of this kind can be 

 pieced together, we may study them in their momentary or geo- 

 graphic, as well as in their continuous or geologic relations. Con- 

 cerning ancient phases of terrestrial magnetism, we are at a loss; yet 

 our conception of even this branch of earth-science, as well as that of 

 the meteorological branch, is certainly broadened when it is regarded 

 as a contemporary of all the geological ages, and not merely as a latter- 

 day characteristic of the globe. 



Similarly, those geological events which we are accustomed to treat 

 in their time-sequence gain fuller meaning when they are decomposed 

 into their momentary elements, and when each element is treated as 

 a geographical feature associated with its contemporary fellows. The 

 columnar sections of stratified rocks, for example, so useful in the 

 understanding of historical geology, are like the edgewise view of a 

 closed book. The book must be opened, the leaves must be turned 

 over one by one, the pages of these early records must be read, like 

 so many gazetteers of ancient times. Never mind if some pages are 

 worn and others are missing: those that can still be deciphered assure 

 us that the past was generally like the present, and warrant the gen- 

 eralization that geology is like nothing so much as a whole series of 

 geographies. 



At the present stage of our progress, the sciences of the earth may 

 be given a somewhat different classification from that of the eight 

 sections into which they are divided for the purposes of this Congress. 

 These sections, as it seems to me, represent the subjective divisions 

 of our sciences, within each of which specialists may limit their 

 studies more or less closely, and for each of which speakers may be 

 provided. But when regarded objectively, the divisions, their group- 

 ing, and their relative values, must be otherwise presented. Geology 

 objectively considered is not merely one of the earth-sciences; it is 

 the whole of them: it is the universal history of the earth. It is true 

 that geology has so largely to do with past time that it is not popu- 

 larly understood to include the present; but it certainly does include 



