THE SCIENCE OF OBSERVATION. 457 



of geology of which lie shall be master. The chair of geology is 

 now split up into economic, glacial, and mining geology, paleontology, 

 etc., and specialists are required in each division. This breaking up 

 is true of most other sciences. In this labyrinth of specialized sub- 

 jects, and the maze of technical terms rendered necessary thereby, 

 the people as a whole can only grope in darkness; but out of this 

 bewildering condition of affairs, from the mass of facts collected, and 

 the resulting generalizations and theories, there may be culled the 

 kernel of one important principle by means of which these facts are 

 ascertained and the generalizations made. The growth of science 

 and its ever-ramifying divisions, and the gradual establishment of new 

 methods of investigation, have brought forth what may be termed 

 the science of observation; and it is through an application of 

 the above principle that the people may be taught correctly to in- 

 terpret Nature, and, by their new habit of thought, to free the 

 brain from the tangle of superstition which is still present with 

 most of ns. 



A knowledge of how to observe natural phenomena and to draw 

 correct inferences therefrom has been the product of slow growth, 

 while through long custom, in matters closely pertaining to our daily 

 life, there has been observation on strictly scientific principles for 

 centuries. Stated succinctly, natural phenomena are due to causes, 

 one or more, simple or complex. These causes are the laws of the 

 universe, and to arrive at an understanding of them we must free our 

 minds of any bias and study phenomena experimentally in the lab- 

 oratory, or in our daily contact with Nature. In this way a mass of 

 facts will be gathered by the systematic observer which will be found 

 to fall into natural groups, and by inductive reasoning the laws 

 governing each group may be learned. It is not possible for man- 

 kind as a whole to investigate in this exhaustive manner; but it is 

 important that the method of arriving at the laws of Nature be 

 understood. Many and, in fact, most phenomena met with in some 

 of the sciences, particularly those having to deal with the earth, are 

 susceptible of correct interpretation without attempting broad gen- 

 eralizations, if the principles of scientific observation are brought to 

 bear upon their solution, and it is our purpose to show by practical 

 examples drawn from Nature how elementary students may attack 

 and solve some of the simple problems met with on every side. It is 

 proposed to use for illustration simple phenomena pertaining to the 

 earth, drawn from geology and its newly constituted sister science, 

 physical geography. These two sciences perhaps afford the greatest 

 range of phenomena, which are accessible to every one, in whatsoever 

 part of the earth he may reside. No part of the land surface is 

 wanting in problems which demand explanation, and which may be 



VOL. L1V. — 33 



