APPLIED GEOLOGY — BKOOKS. 347 



The panic was but u temporary check to the industries, however. 

 The estimated procUiction of pig iron was 347,000 tons in 1840, and 

 600,000 in 1850, while the coal production during the same period 

 increased from 2,000,000 to 7,000,000 tons, and the railway mileage 

 from 2,818 to 9,021. These iiKhistrial advancements were accom- 

 panied by the rapid settlement of the Middle West, by the begmnings 

 of copper mining hi Michigan ui 1844, and of iron mmmg hi Michigan 

 and Missouri in 1853, and most important of all, the discovery of 

 gold m California in 1S4S. All this activity gave a new hnpetus to 

 geologic work, which is reflected m the revival of interest in State 

 surveys. At this tune, too, men began to dream of a transcontmental 

 railway, and therefore the Federal Government undertook a more 

 systematic exploration of the western cordilleran region than had 

 previously been made. The curve of State surveys, as seen m the 

 diagram, contuiued to rise until the outbreak of the Civil War. 

 In this second epoch of geologic w^ork the States of the Middle West — 

 then the frontier — led. This was but natural, because history has 

 proved geology always appealed more strongly to the pioneer than to 

 any other class of people. 



It is difhcult to measure the accomplishment of this second period 

 of geologic activity under State and Federal auspices, owing to its 

 abrupt termination by the Civil War, which interrupted many 

 important investigations. One fact stands out clearly: That applied 

 geology was the mainspring of most of the research, and the results 

 indicate that pure science had not been the loser tliereb}'. 



The prosperous tune following the Civil War in the North and 

 West, with its almost unique industrial advancement, again centered 

 public interest on mineral resources. This caused the Federal Gov- 

 ernment to resume explorations in the West, which took the form of 

 areal geologic surveys and in some cases detailed study of mineral 

 deposits. Many States undertook similar work, and the curve of 

 geologic surveys arose until the interruption by the panic of 1873. 



The results thus attained proved a finlil justification of geology, not 

 only as an intellectual pursuit, but also as a practical aid to mankind. 

 While the immediate benefits of these investigations were large, they 

 were not so important as the institution of geologic map])ing, based 

 on accurate mensuration. Crude as those maps were c<jmpaiod with 

 the piesent standards of refinement, they represent the earliest 

 general attempt in this country to a})ply engineering methods to 

 geologic problems. It was very unfortunate that this first epoch of 

 engineering geology, as it might be called, was so soon interrupted 

 and the work practically discontinued for over a decade. The people 

 were, in fact, Jiardly educated up to an apjjreciation of its value; 

 moreover, the natural resources that could be readily exploited 



