PROFESSOR LE CONTE'S ADDRESS 



was he in the foremost rank, but in other sciences also 

 as, for example, physics, chemistry, and even mathe- 

 matics his knowledge was wide and exact. As he grew 

 older, however, his chief interest and highest activity 

 gravitated more and more toward geology. This was the 

 natural result of the wide sweep of his mind, for geology 

 is the most complex and comprehensive of all the sciences. 

 All other sciences are tributary to her. It was for this 

 reason in part that early philosophers of science regarded 

 her as only an applied science as a field for the applica- 

 tion of all the sciences. Dana's wide and exact know- 

 ledge in many departments fitted him in a peculiar way 

 and in an eminent degree for the highest achievements in 

 geology. No mere specialist in geology could have done 

 Dana's work. 



Leaving out of view his monumental work on Min- 

 eralogy, for the reason that others are more capable than 

 I of weighing its value, there are three main lines of 

 thought, all suggested by his observations during his four 

 years' voyage, which occupied his mind throughout life. 



Growth of Coral Islands 



The first of these was corals, coral reefs, and coral 

 islands. This is a subject of deepest interest, both popu- 

 lar and scientific; popular on account of the gorgeous 

 coloring and the delicate flower-like beauty of the zoo- 

 phytes, and the gem-like, fairy-like beauty of the islands 

 formed by them a beauty which has so affected the 

 imagination of artists as to have given rise to a peculiar 

 South Sea literature which reads like fairy literature ; it 

 is of equal or even greater scientific interest because of 

 the infinite variety of life-forms crowded together on the 

 reefs, making them a veritable zoological garden, the 

 greatest gathering-ground of the naturalist and the great- 

 est theatre of the struggle for life to be found anywhere 

 on earth. But more than all to the geologist are they of 



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