THE RELATIONS OF GEOLOGY. 377 



servants of mankind and an associate of the useful arts. Indeed it is 

 wholl}^ impossible to avoid dealing with it from this outside aspect. 

 In the words of Herbert Spencer: 



Not only are the sciences involved with each other, but they are all inextrieal)ly 

 interwoven with the complex web of the arts, and are only conventionally inde- 

 pendent of it. Originally the two were one, and there has been a perpetual inoscula- 

 tion of the two ever since. Science has been supplying art with higher generalizations 

 and more completely qualitative previsions; art has been supplying science with bet- 

 ter materials and more perfect instruments. * * * And all along this interde- 

 pendence has 1>een growing closer, not only between the arts and sciences, but among 

 the arts themselves and among the sciences themselves. 



I have already noted how greatly geology is indebted to her sister 

 sciences, and how in ever}' case the aid which she has been- given has 

 been fully reciprocated and the mutual sympathy broadened and 

 enlarged. Surely there is no need for me to recall how deep and how 

 fundamental are the ol)ligations which geology owes to the arts in 

 general, and to those of mining, engineering, and topographic sur- 

 vej'ing in particular. But it may not be without advantage if we 

 geologists remind ourselves of that which in the absorption of our 

 researches we are sadly prone to forget, namely, the existence of those 

 many links that bind our science to the world of practice, and the 

 vital need there is of strengthening those links b}' everv means in our 

 power. 



It is true that the first duty of every science is to move incessantl}^ 

 forward from discover}- to discover}^ along the straight path of un- 

 remitting investigation and research, following truth withersoever it 

 may lead, wholly unbiased by the question as to whether that dis- 

 covery bears any relation whatever to the material wants of mankind. 

 But it is equalh^ true that once a fresh fact has l)een discovered, or 

 once a new and satisfactory conclusion has been reached, if that fa(;t 

 or that conclusion be of evident benefit to mankind at large, every 

 lover of his science should welcome its utility and do his best to en- 

 courage its use. 



Here, however, we can not ignore the fact that it is impossil^e that 

 full use can be made of the results of an}^ science until those to whom 

 such results would be of practical value are educated at least in tlie 

 principles of that science. And such education has a double value; it 

 is not only of especial advantage to those who intend to make use of 

 the results of the science, but it redounds to the benefit of the science 

 itself, for it trains up a host of sympathetic students all concerned in 

 its advancement. 



We can not fail to recognize that those sciences— such as chemistry, 

 ph3^sics, biology, and the like — which are generally acknowledged 

 to be mo.st intimately l)ound u[) with practice, and an education in 

 which is held to be absolutelv necessary for success in one or more of 



