﻿SEPT. 
  19, 
  1922 
  jaggar: 
  geophysical 
  observatories 
  345 
  

  

  The 
  old 
  experiments 
  get 
  new 
  meanings 
  and 
  need 
  repetition 
  with 
  

   more 
  precise 
  method. 
  Every 
  day 
  of 
  observation 
  opens 
  up 
  a 
  new 
  

   query. 
  

  

  The 
  psychology 
  of 
  casual 
  scientific 
  visitors 
  at 
  Kilauea 
  throws 
  hght 
  

   on 
  the 
  statements 
  which 
  were 
  made 
  and 
  recorded 
  by 
  similar 
  travellers 
  

   of 
  a 
  half-century 
  ago, 
  citing 
  white 
  heat, 
  lava 
  liquid 
  as 
  water, 
  absence 
  

   of 
  flames, 
  clouds 
  of 
  steam, 
  floating 
  islands, 
  melting 
  by 
  lava, 
  excessive 
  

   heights 
  and 
  depths, 
  and 
  loudness 
  of 
  noises. 
  The 
  misstatements 
  

   are 
  due 
  to 
  failure 
  to 
  observe 
  gases 
  and 
  their 
  effects, 
  and 
  to 
  precon- 
  

   ceived 
  notions, 
  inexperience, 
  hasty 
  generalization, 
  and 
  the 
  tendency 
  

   to 
  exaggeration 
  which 
  is 
  never 
  so 
  dominant 
  as 
  on 
  an 
  active 
  volcano. 
  

   The 
  will 
  to 
  explain 
  is 
  so 
  much 
  more 
  active 
  than 
  the 
  will 
  to 
  doubt 
  and 
  

   ascertain, 
  that 
  a 
  bag-full 
  of 
  erroneous 
  notes 
  is 
  carried 
  off 
  in 
  triumph. 
  

   As 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  fact, 
  doubting 
  and 
  waiting 
  is 
  necessary 
  in 
  presence 
  of 
  

   the 
  unsolved 
  and 
  difficult 
  problems 
  of 
  volcanism, 
  the 
  most 
  enigmatical 
  

   field 
  in 
  geology. 
  

  

  I 
  recently 
  asked 
  the 
  Research 
  Information 
  Service 
  of 
  the 
  National 
  

   Research 
  Council 
  about 
  funds 
  for 
  fixed 
  experiment 
  stations 
  dealing 
  

   with 
  eruption, 
  erosion, 
  sedimentation, 
  and 
  deformation 
  as 
  objects 
  

   of 
  measurement. 
  Numerous 
  inquiries 
  by 
  that 
  Service 
  failed 
  to 
  dis- 
  

   cover 
  any 
  specific 
  provision 
  for 
  the 
  kinds 
  of 
  research 
  designated. 
  

   Volcanology 
  and 
  seismology 
  are 
  meagerly 
  supplied 
  with 
  fixed 
  stations 
  

   recording 
  secular 
  changes. 
  Uplift 
  and 
  tilt 
  in 
  mountains 
  and 
  shore- 
  

   lines, 
  erosion, 
  and 
  sedimentation, 
  are 
  not 
  subjects 
  of 
  even 
  experi- 
  

   mental 
  measurement 
  having 
  in 
  view 
  pure 
  geology. 
  

  

  The 
  sedimentation 
  symposium 
  directed 
  by 
  T. 
  W. 
  Vaughan 
  is 
  an 
  

   admirable 
  compilation 
  revealing 
  recognition 
  of 
  the 
  need 
  for 
  a 
  new 
  

   method, 
  but 
  nowhere 
  suggesting 
  the 
  observatory 
  method. 
  The 
  

   phrasing 
  refers 
  to 
  "problems" 
  and 
  the 
  "need 
  for 
  critical 
  studies" 
  

   and 
  correlation 
  and 
  classification, 
  always 
  with 
  a 
  mapping 
  or 
  a 
  series 
  

   of 
  specimens 
  in 
  mind. 
  Almost 
  none 
  of 
  the 
  experts 
  has 
  in 
  view 
  per- 
  

   manent 
  secular 
  measurement 
  of 
  rate 
  of 
  change 
  and 
  of 
  kinds 
  of 
  change. 
  

  

  This 
  idea 
  suggests 
  to 
  the 
  geologist 
  an 
  impossibility. 
  He 
  instantly 
  

   says, 
  "It 
  would 
  take 
  too 
  long." 
  I 
  reply, 
  "Not 
  only 
  are 
  you 
  wrong, 
  

   but 
  your 
  clocks 
  must 
  be 
  set 
  to 
  Greenwich 
  time 
  and 
  must 
  split 
  seconds 
  

   to 
  measure 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  accelerations 
  of 
  your 
  sedimentation 
  process. 
  

   These 
  sediments 
  are 
  filling 
  intramontane 
  basins, 
  burying 
  cattle 
  bones 
  

   on 
  the 
  plains, 
  and 
  shallowing 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Mexico." 
  "Who 
  has 
  done 
  

   any 
  such 
  work?" 
  he 
  asks. 
  I 
  answer, 
  "George 
  Ellery 
  Hale 
  at 
  Mount 
  

   Wilson." 
  "But 
  surely," 
  says 
  my 
  friend, 
  "you 
  can't 
  expect 
  to 
  do 
  

  

  