52 



of my friend, and which I should have been glad of the opportunity 

 to utter in a more deliberate way and a worthier form. 



The leading characteristic of Professor Cook's scientific work 

 was conscientious fidelity. This was evinced in his conduct of the 

 New Jersey State Geological Survey in two striking particulars : 



First — He never forgot that as the State Geologist he was the 

 servant of the State. He did not consider himself as called upon or 

 authorized to go beyond the limits set by the expressed will of the 

 Legislature, in order to build better than they intended who had 

 employed him. It too often happens that scientific men in public 

 service regard the grants of authority and money which they secure 

 as so many "entering wedges," by the use of which they may gradu- 

 ally lift the popular representatives to a higher plane of wise liber- 

 ality. There is, in my judgment, a proper and praiseworthy way of 

 accomplishing such an education of public sentiment. But I am 

 equally convinced that it is not the way sometimes pursued, ot con- 

 cealing ultimate purposes, and of inaugurating expensive schemes 

 for which no provision has been made. The true policy, it seems to 

 me, is to do the simpler duty first prescribed with such conspicuous 

 economy and intelligence, and make the usefulness of its results so 

 clear to all, as to inspire among laymen a confidence both in the value 

 of science and in the good faith of its representatives. This, at all 

 events, was the course of Professor Cook. It is a noteworthy pecul- 

 iarity of his work that it was not primarily made the vehicle of new 

 and brilliant theories, or of any personal display. Generalizations 

 and speculative inquiries were put in the back-ground ; and those 

 things were studied and described which could be made most imme- 

 diately useful to the citizens of New Jersey. The mere list of the 

 most valuable and notable results of the New Jersey survey, given 

 by Professor Smock in his appreciative biographical notice of his 

 former chief, is a striking illustration of this characteristic. It in- 

 cludes the differentiation of the three green sand and marl beds and 

 their relations to the betterment of the soils; the geological structure 

 of the overlying formations, and the guide to abundant supplies of 

 excellent water in the southern part of the State; the description and 

 accurate survey of the clay beds, and their value as sources of refrac- 

 tory materials; the explanation of the structure of the magnetic iron 

 ore beds, and the methods to be followed in locating mines; the drain- 

 age of the Pequest and Passaic river valleys; the surveys of the water- 

 sheds of the northern part of the State, pointing to the great natural 

 reservoirs of water for city supplies; and the topographic maps, un- 

 surpassed in their accuracy and detail of delineation of the surface 

 features of the whole State. 



In other words, as an officer of the State, Professor Cook deemed 



