INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGIC INSTITUTE 607 



for systematically supplementing the work of official and private 

 surveys where such auxiliary work is most needed. A few uni- 

 versities and a few generous individuals provide means for par- 

 ticular expeditions and these have great value and should 

 command our profoundest appreciation, but they are not, and 

 cannot be expected to be, systematically related to classification 

 or to the other general questions under the special patronage of 

 this body. 



I beg to urge, therefore, upon the International Congress the 

 inauguration of a systematic movement looking to the determina- 

 tion of the fundamental facts upon which an ultimate classification 

 may be founded. 



The practical suggestion I ask leave to offer is an appeal to 

 the generous people of our several nations for the means to 

 establish a permanent institute, or group of coordinate institutes, 

 which shall be devoted to this purpose and to others germane 

 to it. Specifically these purposes may be summarized as fol- 

 lows : 



1. The collocation, systematic arrangement, and publication 

 of existing and forthcoming data bearing upon the fundamental 

 facts and principles upon which a final classification must be 

 founded. 



2. The gathering of literature, especially that now least 

 accessible, and, so far as practicable, of typical collections bear- 

 ing on the special objects of the organization. 



3. The elaboration of data by combination, computation, and 

 correlation, both independently of all hypotheses and in spe- 

 cific application to the various hypotheses that may be pro- 

 pounded. 



4. The encouragement, and so far as practicable, the conduct 

 of field investigations in regions not cultivated by existing 

 organizations, nor reached by private enterprise. 



The magnitude and duration of the work would require that 

 the institution be permanent. If the task of the complete cor- 

 relation of the earth's formations be assumed it is doubtful if the 

 function would ever be entirely fulfilled. 



