THE RELATIONSHIP OF MINING TO SCIENCE 613 



mankind is not to be measured by commercial results alone, 

 but also by what is of greater importance — those more lasting 

 effects which tend to broaden the basis of science. 



But there is the other side of the picture. Whatever 

 contributions mining has made to science, they have been 

 returned tenfold. And this only serves to emphasise the 

 intimate and reciprocal connection that exists between the two. 

 Referring again to geology, consider how it has abundantly 

 repaid the debt due to mining. Many a mining enterprise, but 

 for the light afforded by geology, would never have been 

 embarked upon. The Kent Coal-field (although in its infancy) 

 is a case in point. Here mining, on each side of the Channel, 

 contributed its quota to geology. Geology generalises upon 

 the information thus acquired, and offers a theory which mining 

 accepts and carries into practice. 



So also with gold mining — as for instance in the case of 

 "saddle reef" formations such as those of Bendigo and Nova 

 Scotia, — geology is able to lay down general principles which 

 point to the occurrence of rich quartz veins in the anticlinal 

 domes of the folds rather than in the " legs" on either side. 



Then, in regard to chemistry, the same mutual dependence 

 is evident. Ores which were once regarded as valueless have, 

 by its aid, been rendered valuable. New and improved processes 

 of extracting and recovering metals from their ores have vastly 

 extended the field of mining operations, and have brought 

 within its scope minerals which before were untouched. To 

 mention nothing else, the cyanide process of dealing with 

 refractory ores of gold has completely revolutionised that branch 

 of mining; and it is rather curious to observe that, whereas 

 alluvial and placer mining were at one time the chief sources of 

 gold, and reef mining quite a secondary source, the reverse is 

 now the case, and the most important gold-fields of the world 

 are those where reef mining is carried on. Here, then, is a 

 significant example of the application of science to industry; 

 as soon as the demand of the gold-mining industry came with 

 sufficient force the resources of chemistry were ready at hand 

 to meet the requirements. 



Even medical science has its own peculiar relationship with 

 mining. Special industries have special diseases attaching to 

 them, and require special treatment and investigation. Thus 

 we have miner's phthisis, nystagmus, and that disease ankylos- 



