Professor Cole's Address 241 



cesses, the study of the earth itself is surprisingly 

 neglected. 



We may set the old - fashioned geography - books 

 aside as being purely descriptive and unquestioning, 

 and may turn in geology to our immediate surround- 

 ings and seek their explanation. 



London is badly placed for geological Nature-study, 

 since the features observable, when the long suburbs 

 have been traversed, are on a milder scale than in 

 many parts of our islands; yet the Geologists' Associa- 

 tion and other field-societies have long ago shown the 

 large amount of observation that is possible in the 

 London Basin. The study of the history of London 

 without a knowledge of the country round it is a relic 

 of the old classical days, which are still very slowly 

 waning — the days when imitation- ruins and crystal 

 founts with marble edgings were regarded as superior 

 to any natural landscape. If we recognize that the 

 Cotteswold Hills have done more for London than 

 Queen Elizabeth or the old Metropolitan Board of 

 Works, we shall want to enquire into the origins of 

 the Cotteswold Hills themselves. We shall, in fact, 

 turn to the earth and begin the study of geology. 



With the basis of elementary chemistry and physics 

 now available in self-respecting schools, the subject 

 presents far less difficulty than was formerly the case. 

 To some extent, geology has already been taught as 

 a part of physiography; but it has got so mixed up 

 there with other subjects that the natural aspect of 

 the study has become much obscured. I take it that 

 the apparatus required for teaching geology consists 

 of a general geological map of the country in which 

 the school is situated, the local geological map on the 



Q 



