GEOLOGY FOR 1887 AND 1888. 



Bj' W J McGee, Geologist, U. S. Geological Survey. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



At its birth each branch of science is fostered and promoted by individ- 

 ual eifort, and its early history is an account of iudi vidnals ; in the youth 

 of a vigorous brauch of science it is cultivated and developed not only 

 by individual eftbrt, but by groups of men and definitely organized sci- 

 entific and educational institutions, and its history is an account of 

 individuals, of institutions, and of its own first fruits ; when a branch of 

 science approaches maturity it is further promoted and applied, and 

 its influence generally diffused, chiefly by groups of individuals organ- 

 ized as institutions of learning and research, and its history is an ac- 

 count of institutions rather than individuals and of its results in the 

 promotion of human welfare; and there is a final stage in the history 

 of the development of a brauch of science in which the previously 

 technical knowledge becomes generally diffused among and applied by 

 certain classes or all classes of men, in which it gradually passes from 

 the domain of pure science into that of the arts, and in which its his- 

 tory is an account of the people and of the material progress of a coun- 

 try or of the civilized world. Such has been the course of development 

 in different branches of science; and such is the course pursued through 

 one or more stages in those branches of science not yet completely de- 

 veloped. 



Geology is one of the younger and at the same time one of the more 

 vigorous branches of the tree of knowledge; and so rapidly has it de- 

 veloped, that within the memory of men yet living, it has passed from 

 the infantile stage represented by individual effort to the adolescent 

 stage represented by combination of effort amo;ig definitely organized 

 institutions. Its problems are of such magnitude and such profound 

 importance to the people at large that the states, as well as the learned 

 institutions of the civilized world, have .joined in the effort to solve them 

 and render their results available. Geologic surveys are carried on in 

 the states of this and some other countries ; the general governments 

 in this and other countries maintain bureaus of geologic information; 

 many scientific societies have geologic sections and departments, and 

 some such institutions are entirely devoted to the promotion of geol- 



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