I5O HISTORY OF GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY 



Scottish Geological Society in 1834, which took the place of 

 Jameson's " Wernerian Society." 



Scandinavia early distinguished itselt in geological and 

 mineralogical studies : Keilhau and Kjerulf in Norway, Nor- 

 denskiold, Torell, Lindstrom, Nathorst, and other Swedish 

 investigators, and Forchhammer and Steenstrup in Denmark, 

 contributed much to the rapid progress in the earlier decades 

 of the nineteenth century. Italy suffered in its scientific 

 development during the prolonged and frequent political 

 disturbances, but much has been done in the latter half of the 

 nineteenth century. Russia has, of late, been most energetic 

 and generous in its encouragement of geological and palaeon- 

 tological researches. 



The third decade of the nineteenth century saw the begin- 

 ning of active geological research in North America; and at 

 the present day the United States and Canada are not behind 

 any European land in their scientific attainments and societies. 



In proportion as geology continued to expand its scientific 

 interests, its bearing upon many important technical questions 

 began to be realised. It was represented to statesmen that 

 geology could give valuable indications respecting mining and 

 industrial prospects, road and railway construction, agriculture, 

 and forestry. A desire crept in among public bodies for 

 geological maps and reports of whole countries, and not only 

 of local areas specially interesting to science. Practical 

 England made the beginning. In 1835, under the direction of 

 De la Beche, the governmental department of the Geological 

 Survey of the United Kingdom was established, and special 

 branches were formed for Scotland and Ireland, and afterwards 

 also for the extra-European British Colonies. 



Almost simultaneously, Dufrenoy and Elie de Beaumont 

 were commissioned in France to prepare a general geological 

 map of that country, and after its completion in 1841, the State 

 arranged for a more detailed survey. Michel Levy now directs 

 the French Survey, which is carried on chiefly by mining 

 engineers. Other States gradually followed the example of 

 Great Britain and France, and every cultured nation now has 

 its Survey Department for the investigation of the constitution 

 of the ground and the mineral products within its territories. 



The establishment of State Surveys naturally removed some 

 of the work that had previously fallen to the share of Univer- 

 sity professors and tutors; in not a few countries, however, the 



