CONTRIBUTIONS OF GEOLOGY 197 



" The report was filed away. Summer came, the surface 

 water disappeared, springs gradually diminished in volume, 

 and the small number of previously existing wells could not 

 begin to supply the demands made upon them. Then we got 

 a distress call from the commanding officer : * For Heaven's 

 sake come dig us some wells. We have no water.' Now my 

 geological officer got his revenge. He sent a reply which read 

 something like this: 



" ' Referring to your request of even date that some wells 

 be sunk in your camp, your attention is respectfully called to 



my report of February , specifying the number of wells 



you would need, and to your endorsement of said report to the 

 effect that there was no use in digging wells in a country al- 

 ready saturated with water. I regret to report that all our 

 drilling parties are at present engaged on pressing work duly 

 authorized; but as soon as a party is free, it will be sent im- 

 mediately to your assistance.' 



" Since that day," concluded the General, " no one in this 

 army thinks of doing anything in a new region without first 

 consulting our geologist." 



Not in all armies did the geologist enjoy such high confi- 

 dence. A survey of the army fronts, even in the last days of 

 the war, would have shown that in some localities and in some 

 problems geological science was actively contributing to the 

 prosecution of military operations; while in others the geolo- 

 gist was conspicuous by his absence, and the most heard about 

 him was a number of complaints from engineers and officers 

 that their work was seriously hampered because of the lack of 

 geological information and assistance. Nevertheless, the sum 

 total of the contributions made by geology toward winning the 

 war is a creditable record, and the reader may be interested 

 in some examples of the many ways in which a knowledge of 

 the earth's crust was made to increase the effectiveness of the 

 military campaigns. 



In England one naturally turned first to the headquarters 

 of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, in London, to learn 





