334 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1912. 



The science of applied geology, therefore, had its origin among 

 those who, like the miners, were by vocation brought into inti- 

 mate contact with natural phenomena. Many of the elementary 

 facts relatmg to mineral deposits were forced on the attention of 

 the miner, and as the correct mterpretation of these facts added 

 to his material welfare, some deductive reasoning was undoubtedly 

 applied. The rudimentary conceptions thus formed were more 

 likely to be correct than those of the early closet academician, 

 whose science for generations began and ended in pure speculation. 



Therefore, to trace the origin of applied geology the oldest archives 

 treating of mining, quarryuig, agriculture, engineering, and mineral- 

 ogy must be searched — a task which has been quite beyond me. 

 And reachmg far back of any written record was the traditional lore 

 bearing on geologic phenomena of countless generations of miners 

 and husbandmen. Even the man of the stone age must have sub- 

 consciously acquired laiowledge of the distribution of the materials 

 which he fashioned into implements of the chase and war. If we 

 are to allow our imagination full scope, we can conceive of some 

 primitive economic geologist who, by finding a deposit of copper and 

 revealing the superiority of the new material for weapons, became 

 the hero of his tribe. 



While our Aryan ancestors appear to "have been ignorant of the 

 use of metals when they first invaded the Mediterranean countries, 

 yet they acquked a knowledge of them from the Semitic races 

 long before the dawn of history. In winning these metals primitive 

 man used methods which required neither any high degree of tech- 

 nical skill nor a knowledge of the form of their occurrence. Minmg, 

 being second only to agriculture in its importance to the human 

 race, became more systematized with the progress of civilization. 

 By the time historical records began the recovery of metals and the 

 quarrying of building stones were well-developed arts, and there is 

 no reason to suppose that the mode of occurrence of the deposits 

 exploited were ignored by those whose livelihood was involved. 



The rulers of this early period, keenly alive to the value of the 

 metals, undoubtedly caused this source of wealth and power to be 

 investigated by able men. It is recorded that Philip of Macedon 

 evinced his interest in mining by examining in person some under- 

 ground worldngs in Thrace. Jason's search for the golden fleece 

 pictures the prospector of those days as a national hero. In any 

 event, it is certain that millions of ounces of gold and silver and 

 many tons of copper, as well as tin and iron, had been produced 

 centuries before the Christian era. We must believe that this 

 production indicates a sufficiently developed industry to employ 

 not only sldlled artisans but also those who delved deeper into 

 the problems of minmg. The ancient Egyptians were eminently 



