C36 .TOHK WESLEY POWELL. 



personally develop them all, and realizing- this he gave freely to his 

 collaborators. The work which he inspired and to which he con- 

 tributed the most ini])()itaiit creative elements. ] believe to be at least 

 as important as that for which his name stands directly responsible. 

 As he always drew a})out him the best a])ility he could command, his 

 assistants were not mere elal)orators, l)ut made also important original 

 contributions, and the ideas which he gave the world through others 

 are thus so merged and mingled with theirs that they can ncA'er be 

 separated. If we count the inspiration of his colleagues as part of his 

 work of organization, then the organization of researches may prop- 

 erly be placed Hrst in the list of his contributions to the progress of 

 science. Other terms of the list pertain to the fields of geolog}'', 

 physical and economic geography, anthropology, and philosophy. 



The creation of the United States Geological Survey belonged to the 

 logic of events and would undoubtedl}- have taken place within a few years 

 without PowelFs assistance, but his active advocacy hastened the change 

 and his ideas had greater influence than tiiose of any other individual 

 in determining the mode of reconstruction of the national scientific 

 work. He was so prominent as a promoter of reorganization that when 

 it had been accomplished he felt that his motives might l)e impugned 

 if he l^ecame a candidate for the directorship of the Survey, and he 

 therefore declined to have his name pi'esented. It is proper to add 

 that the scheme of reorganization which he advocated was not adopted 

 in full. His plan included the organization of three bureaus to con- 

 duct investigation in the fields of geology, geography, and ethnology, 

 but Congress created only two bureaus, lea\ing geography without 

 si)ecial provision. The work of geographic mapping w^as taken up by 

 the (leological Sur\'ey as a means for providing base maps for the use 

 of geologists, and thus the Survey has become a 1)ure'ui of geograph}" 

 as well as geology. 



Two years later, when Powell succeeded King in the administration 

 of the (leological Survey, he found the su])divisiou of the work 

 arranged largely on geographic lines. There were branch offices at 

 Denver, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco, each in charge of a chief 

 who directed the geologic and topographic work of a large district. 

 For til is classification Powell gradually substituted one l)ased upon 

 function, a))olishing the districts and sei)arate offices and creating divi- 

 sions of topography, general geology, and economic geology, coordi- 

 nate with divisions of paleontolog}^ physics, and chemistry. A r«Mil or 

 geographic classification was still used, but was su])ordinated to a 

 subject classification. 



Careful attention was given to the financial S3^stem of the liureiui, 

 the machinery by which the })ublic funds were paid out and accounted 

 for, and the wisdom of this attention was afterwards fully justifiiMl. 

 AN'hcn in later years the affairs of the Survey avci-c subjected to 



