C— GEOLOGY, 69 



In a young, undeveloped country, with a small revenue and a large 

 expenditure, such as is often the case, it behoves one to attach greater 

 importance to the economic than to the purely scientific side of geology. 



In his Presidential Address — * Functions of a State Geological Survey ' 

 ■ — to the Mining and Geological Institute of India, in 1907, Sir Thos. 

 Holland says : — ' The official geologist in this country is bound by the 

 terms of his appointment to remember that, either directly or indirectly, 

 his work should aim in the long run at the development of our mineral 

 resources ' ; also that — -' in general, the field-work of the Geological 

 Survey ends with what is known as the exploratory stage, as regards 

 minerals of economic value : that is, the stage at which sufficient informa- 

 tion is obtained to warrant the outlay of money for systematic prospecting 

 operations. The official operations normally end with the publication of 

 the information available at this stage ; but the Geological Survey still 

 takes an interest in the work of prospecting and exploitation.' This 

 address deals particularly with the development of Indian metalliferous 

 minerals and gives valuable information about the production of ores of 

 aluminium (bauxite), iron, manganese, and copper, and the disposal of 

 them in competition with similar ores from other countries. 



But before the economic can be properly appraised it is necessary to 

 know what relation the scientific has to it. It is, therefore, imperative 

 to keep this always in view. Let us consider the great division of 

 sedimentary rock-s and compare them with the rocks known in old 

 countries, where their characteristics and associations have been thoroughly 

 ascertained. 



Geological science has shown that for the sake of convenience 

 sedimentary rocks have been placed in various groups, ranging from very 

 ancient ones to those at present in a state of formation. Were these 

 always present in tiieir natural order of succession the matter would be an 

 easy one, but since, in no part of the world, is there anything approaching 

 a complete sequence or record — for there have been numberless changes in 

 the relation between sea and land — the relative positions in sequence of 

 these sediments have to be ascertained by some means. The most 

 reliable are the types of fossils they contain. 



Further, the occurrence of subterranean water, as artesian, is dependent 

 on the character of the strata and their disposition — that is the association 

 of pervious and impervious beds, which are gently folded so as to form 

 basins in which the surface water can collect under hydrostatic pressure, 

 and be prevented from flowing away until tapped by a bore. 



This information is obtainable only by persons familiar with geology, 

 and before any attempt be made to bore for artesian water a geological 

 examination is necessary. Blind boring on sites selected by people 

 without that knowledge has meant the expenditure of much money, 

 labour and time, often without useful results. The same can be said of 

 boring for oil and coal. Large sums have been thrown away through boring 

 operations at unsuitable places and the continuance of boring into under- 

 Ijang rocks devoid of oil and coal. Professor J. W. Gregory records' the 

 statement of J. E. Pogue, in ' Economics of Petroleum ' (1921, p. 243), 



' Gregory, J. W. 'The Elements of Economic Geology,' p. 1 (Methuen^ 



