APPLIED GEOLOGY BROOKS. 339 



concrete. It need hardly be added that the advances made in chem- 

 istry, physics, and biology were essential to this progress. 



By the latter part of the eighteenth century conceptions of strati- 

 graphy began to take definite form. In this field, again, the miner 

 to a certain extent forestalled the scholar, for he had recognized that 

 locally, at least, the earth crust was built up of superimposed strata 

 having a definite order. He had also noted that this order was some- 

 times interrupted by breaks and in the underground workings had 

 opportunity to grasp some details of tectonic geology. 



The advancement of science and arts toward the end of the eight- 

 eenth century had been such as to create a demand for trained 

 engineers. In the field of technical education mining was given the 

 first recognition, for the school at Freiberg was established in 1765, 

 20 years before the existence of schools of any other branch of engi- 

 neering, except those devoted to military science. This school was 

 to have a world-wide effect on geology, through the influence of 

 Werner, the first great teacher of the science. The founding of other 

 mining schools followed rapidly, indicatmg a need throughout con- 

 tinental Europe for trained mining engineers. With the exception 

 of Freiberg none of these schools gave special heed to science, but their 

 establishment was of great importance to applied geology, as it gave 

 definite recognition to the fact that mining was to be directed by 

 engineers and not by artisans. The advent of the trained mining 

 engineer was of first importance, for on him was to fall much of the 

 work of advancing the new science. 



On the Continent mining was chiefly carried on by or under the 

 direct supervision of the State, and the need of properly trained 

 engineers was probably the chief reason why technical mining edu- 

 cation began before other branches of engineermg. In England, 

 on the other hand, mining was mostly a matter of private enter- 

 prise, and technical education lagged far behind the Continent. 

 The men entrusted with the du-ection of mining affairs seem to 

 have been drawn from the practical school of experience and were 

 known as mineral surveyors. To this class belonged WUliam Smith, 

 the founder of stratigraphic geology. 



Worthy of note also is John Williams, a mineral surveyor, who 

 preceded Smith by one generation. Williams was a Welshman, 

 who was bred as a miner, served as a soldier under the Dutch flag, 

 and held various responsible positions in the coal and lead mining 

 industries. In 1789 he published a Natural History of the Mineral 

 Kingdom, which is remarkable for expressing some of the modern 

 views on applied geology. It contains a large number of accurate 

 observations, notably on coal and lead deposits. In discussing 

 ore deposits Williams suggests a probable genetic relation between 



