364 • THE EELATIONS OF GEOLOGY. 



or the claims of others. Geolog^^ has not onl>' its privileges, but also 

 its duties, and the entire world of science and practice has the right 

 of demanding a justification of the faith that is in us. Nor do 1 think 

 that it asks two nmch if it insists upon a categorical answer to the 

 questions, What is this geology of which we are so proud and so confi- 

 dent? What has it done for the mental or material benetit of the 

 human race? and on what grounds does it justify its claim to respect 

 and support as one of the factors in the advance of humanity i 



Far l)e it from me to presume to attempt to reply on your ])ehalf to 

 questions of so serious an imi)ort. That task must be left in part to 

 the eloquent apologists of our science and in part to the results 

 achieved by the great workers in geology — results that carry the 

 answer with them. But on an occasion like the present I doubt 

 wheth<n- ^ve can do anything better or more appropriate to the time 

 than ha\t> a quiet but open talk together over the position and rela- 

 tions of our science. 



I. — Geology and its Fellow-Sciences. 



GEOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY. 



In the words of one of the most devoted adherents of our science, 

 we might say, '* without impropriety, that all the physical sciences are 

 included under two great heads — astronomy and geology; the one 

 comprehending all those sciences which teach us the constitution, the 

 motions, the rehitive places, and the mutual action of the astra, or 

 heavenly bodies, while the other singles out for study the one astrum 

 on which we live, namely, the earth." 



This definition, if we may call it so, is one which is not only simple 

 and convenient, l)ut it gives perhaps the broadest and clearest view of 

 the place and mission of gfeology, regarded from an outside standpoint. 

 And there is a naturalness in this association of geology and astron- 

 oni}" which can not be ignored. 



Astronomy concerns itself with the whole of the visible universe, 

 of which our earth forms but a relatively insignificant part; while 

 geology deals with that earth regarded as an individual. Astronomy 

 is the oldest of the sciences, while geology is one of the newest. But 

 the two sciences have this in common — that to l)oth are granted a mag- 

 nificence of outlook and an immensity of grasp denied to all the rest. 



Yet, compared with other sciences, few perhaps have so small a 

 number of adherents and working members. It may be that this is 

 due to the opinion of the majority both of the past and the present 

 generation that these two sciences seem to demand for their success- 

 ful prosecution an abnegation of emotion and of all human sympathies; 

 their grandest results are not the conquests of the heart, but of the 

 head, wrought out in the cold, dry light of reason. 



