SECTION C—GEOLOGY. 
CULTURAL ASPECTS IN GEOLOGY. 
ADDRESS BY 
Proressor W. A. PARKS, Pu.D., F.R.S.C., 
PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. 
Introduction. 
In using the word ‘cultural’ in the title of this address I have been 
unfortunate, perhaps, in the choice of a term. Face to face with the 
necessity of a definition, I find myself somewhat at a loss, and must 
beg the privilege of using the expression with my own conception of its 
application. 
Culture is closely allied to education, but the two terms are not synony- 
mous: a highly educated man is not necessarily cultured, and the lack 
of culture may be conspicuous if the education is narrow in its scope. In 
my definition of culture, therefore, I would include, in the first place, a 
wide foundation and a breadth of view. Culture differs from education, 
also, in that it refers more to the emotional and spiritual and less to the 
practical and material. Music and the fine arts are essentially cultural ; 
philosophy and literature, for the most part, fall within the meaning of 
the term. Culture is all that tends to uplift the spirit, to induce con- 
templation, to direct the thoughts to the mysteries of time and of life, 
to awaken an appreciation of beauty, and to inspire the soul. 
The study of the material science is so largely a marshalling of facts, 
often with a utilitarian end in view, that the cultural aspect is somewhat 
obscured. Nevertheless, culture in its highest form appears in the grand 
generalisations and deductions of the scientist. Whether he deals with the 
microcosm or with the macrocosm he touches the infinite, and culture is 
within his grasp. Whether he seizes it or allows it to pass him by depends 
more on his own mental attitude than on the nature of his subject. 
The science of geology is wide in scope and general in application ; 
it deals with matter and with life, with time and with space ; it touches 
the philosophical and borders on the romantic ; majesty and beauty are 
its essentials, and imagination is necessary for its pursuit. The cultural 
~ value of such a science is not to be despised. Whether the geologist him- 
_ self attains culture or remains immersed in his sea of mere facts depends 
on his own attitude. In any event the gems of his collection will pass before 
other eyes better able to appreciate their value and to rejoice in their 
magnificence. 
It is my purpose, in this address, to direct your attention to well-known 
_ features of our science. I shall attempt to introduce no new facts, and I beg 
_ that you will consider my remarks merely as an attempt to lay emphasis 
on a selected few of the many great lessons of geology. 
