350 THE JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY. 
on in the face of many disadvantages, not the least among which were 
small appropriations, ever since he assumed control of the Ohio 
Geological Survey in 1884. A comparison of the state of knowledge 
on Ohio geology at that time and at the present speaks for itself as to 
the efficiency of the work he has carried on. In previous years, under 
the direction of Professor Newberry, many of the most important 
features of the geology of the state were made known, but many were 
left undisclosed, and it is to Professor Orton that we owe our 
knowledge of these, as well as the systematic presentation of many 
former discoveries. Not only has Professor Orton brought out many 
facts of very great geological importance, but he has also developed the 
economic side of the questionin an admirable manner, thus rendering 
the survey useful not only to the scientist, but also to the vast mass of 
the citizens of the state for whose good the appropriations for a geo- 
logical survey were especially intended. The collection of purely 
scientific datain a region is necessarily the first step in the work of 
a geological survey, and is of great value to all geologists ; but he 
who stops his work here does not fulfill the objects for which appro- 
priations for geological surveys are usually made. The average citi- 
zen is not a geologist ; purely geological discussions are unintelligible 
tohim. He can draw no deductions from them, and the duty of 
one in charge of a geological survey is to draw economic deduc- 
tions from his scientific studies, and publish them in a form which can 
be understood by the mass of the people of the community taxed to 
carry on such work. Many who have charge of surveys fail to do this, 
either because they do not realize its importance, or because they 
have a weak-minded idea that to make economic publications is 
unworthy of them. 
| Professor Orton has in an admirable way given to the people of 
Ohio all the economic results possible. He has in his various publi- 
cations first presented his purely geological data, and has then dis- 
cussed in detail all conclusions therefrom which could be of material 
benefit to the people of the state. He has thus accomplished the 
highest objects of a geological survey, and the thanks of the people of 
Ohio and of the country at large are due him. Most prominent 
among his works on the economic resources of the state are the 
treatises on petroleum and natural gas, embodied in Preliminary 
Reports of Progress, 1886; Vol. VI., 1888, and First Annual Report, 
1890. These publications have made him an authority on the subjects 
