July i8, 1895] 



NATURE 



283 



mind, there need be no more doubt as to what was the quality of careful descriptive record be made of the stratigraphical con- 



the water in which any given formation was deposited, than might 

 arise concerning any other geological oljservation. 



The Claims ok CiEOLOGicAi, Science upon Investigators, 



Ml!SEUMS, &C. 



With reference to the ordinary {pursuits of life it can hardly be 

 said that, apart from a natural demand for respectable emulation, 

 one's occupation has any claims upon him other than those which 

 are either conventionally or legally imposed by society upon ever}' 

 one of its members. The geological investigator, however, is not 

 only amenable to all such claims, but to others of a different 

 nature which, although not enforceable by legal, and unfortu- 

 nately not yet by conventional, penalties, are not less imperative 

 in their character. 



Much might be said in favour of the demands which may be 

 made in the name of science upon the individual on the ground 

 of justice and of moral and^social ethics ; but all considerations 

 of this kind will be omitted, reference only being made to those 

 claims which are supported by the urgent necessities of science 

 itself Claims of the kind referred to might lie nmde in favour of 

 all the various divisi(msof science : but on the present occasion the 

 discussions will be confined to those which pertain to biological 

 geolog}', including both its stnictural and systematic branches. 

 With reference to the manner in which the subject is pre- 

 sented, it is proper to say that thehomiletic form has not been 

 adopted merely from personal preference, but becaure it appears 

 to be in the present case a proper and effective, if an indirect, 

 method of calling attention to prevalent errors, and of suggesting 

 necessary improvements in certain prevalent methods. 



These claims of science will be considered not only with 

 reference to the individual investigator, but to associations, 

 museums, and geological organisations. Those which may be 

 made upon the individual investigator relate t<j the manner of 

 prosecuting his work and of publishing its results, and also to his 

 final disposition of the evidence upon which his conclusions are 

 based. Claims upon associations or societies relate to the character 

 and methods of publicatiijn ; those upon museums, to the con- 

 servation and installation of fossil remains, and of the records 

 pertaining to them ; and those upon organisations, to the pre- 

 -servation of the integrity of geological science. 



In considering the claims of science upon the individual, it is 

 desirable to make some reference to the amateur as well as to 

 the special investigator. This recognition of non-professional 

 work is desirable because the general subject of geology has 

 acquired such a hold upon the popular mind, and the opportuni- 

 ties for making observations with relation to it are everywhere 

 so common, that in every civilised coimtry there is a multitude of 

 persons who are in the habit of making more or less critical 

 observations. Notwithstanding the usual limited aiul desidtor)' 

 character of svich observations, they ha\'e often contributed 

 materially to the general fund of geological knowledge, especially 

 when accompanie<l by a faithful record and preservation of 

 evidence. Indeed, some of the most valuable facts in geologj* 

 have been brought out by amateur observers, who themselves 

 were hardly consciovis that they had ma<le their way alone to the 

 frontier of ac<|uired knowledge ; and from the ranks of such 

 observers have arisen many of the leaders in geological 

 investigation. 



It has been shown that systematic geologj' coulrl have no 

 existence without the use of fossil remains, and also that without 

 their use structural geology would be reduced to mere local and 

 disconnected studies. It has also been shown that to arrive at a 

 just estimate of the value of f issil remains in these branches of 

 geology they must be thoroughly and systematically studied as 

 representatives of faunas and floras, as well as tokens of the 

 formations in which they are found. The proper collection and 

 preservation of fossil remains is therefore a subject of the greatest 

 importance. In view of these facts it is the plain duty of every 

 geologist, upon beginning a jiiece of fieUI-work in structural 

 geology, to accimipany every step of his examination of the strata 

 by as full a collection ;is possible of the contained fossils, 

 and to preserve them, together with notes recording the re- 

 sults of his observations and a statement of all the facts rele- 

 vant thereto. 



Kossils thus collected, and the facts concerning them recorded, 

 become invested with a value which differs materially from that 

 which is i>ossessed by ordinary property, and the claims of science 

 U|)i)n them and upon ihe investigator with relation to them at 

 once begin. These claims, as just inlinialed, require that a 



ditions under which the fossils are found, including a directive 

 record of the locality and designation of the stratum from which 

 they were obtained. They also require that these records should 

 be inviolably preserved and made inseparable from every 

 specimen by indices that shall be as intelligible to other investi- 

 gators as to the original observer. 



Apart from the claims of science such precaution is necessar)-, 

 because reliance ui>on memory alone is always unsafe in the most 

 favourable cases, and it can at best give rise only to such oral 

 traditions as are out of place in .scientific work. The immediate 

 preparation of the records and indices just mentioned is also 

 necessary, because, while every specimen is at all times com- 

 ]>etent to impart to an investigator all obtainable knowledge of 

 its own character, it can of it.self convey no information as to its 

 original locality and stratigraphic position. With this informa- 

 tion secured for a collection of fossils they may be made at all 

 times available as aids to scientific research, not only by the 

 collector, but by all other investigators. 



The claims of science also recjuire that immediately u]X)n the 

 completion of the original study of fossils thus collected and 

 recorded, they shall be placed where they w ill lie freely accessible 

 to the scientific public, and that reference to their place of 

 deposit .shall be made in connection with their publication. It 

 is needless to say that the only suitable places for such deposit 

 are public museums. It is only when this indispensable evidence 

 is thus made accessible that the public can e.xercise that arbitra- 

 tion over the accumulated results of the labours of investigators 

 which has been shown to Ite imperative. 



The preparation and publication of complete records concern- 

 ing the locality and strata from which fossil remains are obtained 

 are necessary even from a biological point of view alone, 

 especially when those remains are studied with reference to the 

 range of organic forms in time, and without such records fossil 

 remains are comparatively worthless as aids in geological in- 

 vestigation. It is unfortunately true that a not unimportant 

 proportion of the pakvontoU)gical material contained in our best 

 nuiseums is w ithout these essential lecords, and that many <_)f the 

 publications containing descriptions and illustrations of fo.ssil 

 remains give no satisfactory information as to the localities and 

 strata from which they were obtained, or of the final disposition 

 of the specimens. In such cases those authors and collectors 

 have evidently assumed to decide for themselves and for science 

 the exact taxoncmiic position in the geological .scale of the .strata 

 from which their fossils came. In omitting such records as have 

 been referred to, they seem to have considered any information 

 unnecessary that would enable the scientific public to repeat 

 their observations upon their specimens, or those which they may 

 have made in the field, or to learn the biological characteristics of 

 the formations from which their collections were obtained other 

 than those which may be suggested by their own partial 

 collections and their necessarily imperfect descriptions. It is 

 floubtless true thai such omissions have been largely due to an 

 honest lack of appreciation on the part of authors and collectors 

 of the importance of preserving such records, but it is to be 

 feared that in some important cases the omissions or suppressions 

 have been intenti^mal. In the former class of cases the fact can 

 only lie deploreil. but in the latter every geologist is justified in 

 feeling that a crime has been committed against science. 



The claims f>f geological science upon .associations and 

 societies are so generally and justly recognised, that only the one 

 which relates to the manner of publishing the results of investi- 

 gation need be referred to in this connection, and this reference 

 will be confined to the necessity of enforcing the claims ujxin 

 individual investigators which have already been discussed. 

 This claim may be sufticiently indicated by reference to those 

 last mentioned, and by the remark that if it is the duly of 

 individuals to publish records of their observations in the manner 

 that has been stated, it is plainly the duty of tho.se persons who 

 may be in charge of the means of publication to refuse to publish 

 the writings of those authors who do not conform to that 

 rccpiirement. 



The facts and principles which have been stated fully warrant 

 the statements that iiulivitlual aiUhority can have no existence 

 with relation to geological .science, that the public must be the 

 final arbiter of all questions c<mcerning the value of proposed 

 contributions to its advancement, .and that a public exixjsition 

 should be made of the evidence upon which any contribution to 

 biological geology is b,a.sed. In accordance with the last-named 

 re(|uirement it is necess;iry to consider the claims of this branch 



NO. 1342, VOL. 52] 



