THE RELATIONS OF GEOLOGY. 383 



Snrolv sonu' kiiul of knowledge and training of this kind is much 

 to be desii-ed for the ordinary man of education and leisure, the lit- 

 erary man, the arts man, the matiiematician. Oiily by some means 

 of this kind does it seem possible to restore the loss of balance due to 

 the self- absorptive and introspective tendency of much of the so-called 

 culture of the present day. Only by some means of this kind can 

 one attain to the needed breadth of outlook and freedom of opinion as 

 respects all that concerns the relation of man and nature. 



III. — Geology and Education. 



We have se^n that a knowledge of geology is indispensa]>le to the 

 complete education of the miner, the prospector, the civil engineer, 

 and the military engineer, and that a first-hand acquaintance with at 

 least its elements is eminently desira))le for the agriculturist, the 

 geographer, the traveler, and the l)iologisr. Many may even be will- 

 ing to admit that the literary man and the man of culture would l)e 

 the better for knowing something of its principles and its conclusions. 

 But as geologists it is our bounden duty to go nuich further than 

 this, and urge upon the educationalists of the day the necessity of 

 artording the rising generation such a full opportunity of instruction 

 in that kind of knowledge, of which geology is the keystone, as shall 

 enable our youth to understand and appreciate the more important 

 phenomena of the world at large and the bearing of these upon their 

 own life and surroundings. 



Nothing, however, is further from my intention than to suggest 

 that all the youth of the country shall be instructed in the science of 

 geology as such or that geology shall be introduced as a special sub- 

 ject of education except into the higher classes of schools, colleges, and 

 universities. But what 1 have in my mind is that geology is the center 

 of that group of knowledges which are sometimes collectively referred 

 to as ''nature knowledge" and their stud}' as ''nature stud3^''' The 

 more advanced educationalists have long since suggested and even 

 strongly advocated instruction in nature study for all our youth; but, 

 alas, they are not yet agreed as to what '"nature study " shall include or 

 how it shall be taught. At the one extreme are those who apparently 

 would embrace within it instruction in and explanation of all such con- 

 crete facts and phenomena as can l)e ])rought before the notice of the 

 vouthful pupil so as to direct his attention to external nature in general. 

 At the other extreme are those to whom this dwelling upon facts and 

 phenomena appears to be repugnant, if we may judge from the fol- 

 lowing extract, which 1 take from a recently published book catalogue: 

 "To those who are striving to make nature study more vital and 

 attractive by revealing a vast realm of nature outside the realm of 

 science and a world of ideas aliove and bevond the world of facts the 



