May 4, 1921 smith: geological by-products 20.'> 



GEOLOGY. — Scientific by-products of applied geology ^ George 

 Otis Smith, U. S. Geological Survey. 



"By-product" is a term that suggests large-scale industrial engineer- 

 ing and perhaps even "big business." By-product practice carries the 

 complex idea of waste turned into profit, of painstaking engineering 

 converting the raw material into many products, and of persistent 

 salesmanship that finds a market for commodities as varied as dyna- 

 mite and toilet sets or hams and violin strings. Yet, except in its 

 larger commercial aspect, by-product practice is not limited to modern 

 times or to large corporate enterprise; conserving the incidental or 

 the "left-over" was also a virtue of our forefathers. The giving of 

 value to the additional or secondary products and their successful 

 disposal with profit to all, however, seems the modern expression of 

 old-fashioned thrift. 



So, while no doubt applied geology has always paid its tithes in the 

 form of incidental contributions to the theoretical side of the science, 

 it is probably true that as our geologic efforts have been spread over 

 larger fields, with greater variety of endeavor, these scientific by- 

 products have come to represent greater values to the world of science. 

 As a large operator in applied geology, the United States Geological 

 Survey would be blind to its opportunity if it failed to utilize these 

 scientific by-products, and indeed it is to be hoped that this Federal 

 service has caught the commercial spirit at least to the extent of seeing 

 large profits in by-products. The other type of by-products — eco- 

 nomic results incidental to research — would make a more impressive 

 showing; but that is another story, well worth telling under other 

 auspices. 



In the program of geologic work of the United States Geological 

 Survey for the last decade three phases of applied geology stand out 

 prominently — land classification, oil and gas exploration, and the 

 study of mineral reserves both in our own and foreign countries. 

 Each of these phases represents a task laid upon the Survey by a 

 national need, but none of them at first glance is expected to include 

 research into fundamental principles of the science of geology. In 

 fact, they have all been looked upon as a levy upon the science rather 

 than as an aid to its progress. However, it may be opportune to 

 pause and suggest some of the valuable by-products of all this work 

 that has absorbed so much of the activities of geologists of high scien- 



^ Presented before the Society of Economic Geologists at Chicago in December, 1920, 

 and the Geological Society of Washington on April 13, 1921. Received April 2, 1921. 



