GEOLOGICAL METHODS IN EARLIER DAYS 27 



and afterwards he had to find the train. The conditions made for 

 rapid movement when at work, for keenness of observation, for quick- 

 ness of perception, for promptness in decision as well as for error in con- 

 clusion. The geologist learned to follow the track of the train, but the 

 close watch for crushed grass or for fleeting footprints in sand pre- 

 vented him from seeing important features during his hasty ride. 



In comparing the work of the earlier days with that performed 

 more recently, under better conditions and with the aid of the earlier 

 reconnaissances, I have been astonished that so much, and the word is 

 used advisedly, has endured the test of friendly as well as of unfriendly 

 criticism. It is surprising that geologists, slung about as bobs on the 

 tail of a topographer's kite in a wholly unloiown region, succeeded so 

 well in gaining knowledge of the general structure; they failed only 

 where they attempted detailed description or discussion. Maps were 

 prepared slowly after the season closed and when the geologist received 

 them, a year or more afterwards, they were a mystery. Streams fol- 

 lowed wholly unsuspected directions; localities were in relations very 

 different from those conceived when the work was in progress; in 

 critical places the map was altogether unlike that drawn in the geol- 

 ogist's mind. It was impossible to bring the imagined into harmony 

 with the real, so that some portions were colored on the basis of a 

 mental reconnaissance. Geologists attached to the Hayden survey were 

 at somewhat less disadvantage because the work was primarily geo- 

 logical; but they were hampered very seriously in other directions. In 

 those early days the importance of surveys was not recognized ; in order 

 to secure appropriations it was necessary to produce bulky reports 

 referring to great areas ; there was no time for careful work, yet several 

 geologists associated with Hayden made remarkable studies and solved 

 intricate problems. The Powell survey, because of the Major's marvel- 

 ous skill in manipulation of Congressional committees, was hampered 

 much less, and the work done by Gilbert and by Button is of lasting 

 importance. 



Geological surveys in individual states were begun very early but, 

 except in Massachusetts, they were shortlived and on a small scale. The 

 great surveys of New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia were begun in 

 1836. At that time, there were practically no geologists in the country; 

 of those known as mining engineers, not more than five or six had re- 

 ceived any geological training. The geological surveys were entrusted 

 mostly to young men ; Rogers of Virginia was 32 ; his brother in Penn- 

 sylvania was 28; in New York, Mather was 32, Vanuxem was 44, 

 Emmons, 37 and Hall, 25. Among the assistants on the Pennsylvania 

 survey were Lesley, 20, Hodge, 21, Jackson, 23, Haldeman, 24. The 

 country in much of Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, even in New 

 York, was little better than a wilderness, eighty years ago; railroads 



