Geology in Education and Practical Life. 445 



other characters whioli make the diflference between good and bad 

 stone, or between one desirable and undesirable in the particular 

 circumstances in which a building is to be erected. Further, he 

 should make a particular study of the action of weight and weather 

 on the rocks which he employs. 



The road engineer and surveyor, now that it has been discovered 

 that it is cheaper and better to use the best and most lasting road- 

 metal instead of any that happens to be at hand, requires to have an 

 extensive acquaintance with our igneous and other durable rocks. 

 He needs, however, not only petrographic and chemical knowledge, 

 but also a type of information not at present accessible in England, 

 the relative value of these rocks in resisting the wear and tear of 

 traffic, the cementing power of the worn material, and the surface 

 characters of roads made from them, in order that he may in each 

 case select the stone which in his particular circumstances gives the 

 best value for money. It would surely pay the County Councils 

 to follow, with modifications, the example of the French and 

 Americans, and carry out a deliberate and well- planned series of 

 experiments on all the material accessible to them in their respective 

 districts. 



The teaching of the application of geology should therefore take 

 some such form as the following : — First, the principles should be 

 thoroughly taught with the use for the most part of examples drawn 

 from the economic side ; thus cementing might be illustrated on the 

 side of water percolation, jointing from the making of mine roads and 

 from quarry sites, faulting from effects on coal outcrops and veins, 

 unconformity from its significance to the coal-miner ; while in 

 teaching the sequence of stratified rocks the systems and stages 

 could be mainly individualised by their economic characters. When 

 this is done the class must be divided into groups, each paying 

 special attention to the points which are of essential importance 

 to them. 



The teaching at all stages should be practical and, so far as can 

 be, experimental, and in all cases where possible a certain amount 

 of field-work should be attempted. For the field, after all, is the 

 laboratory of the geologist, where he can observe experiments being 

 made on a gigantic scale under his eyes. 



The aim of the teaching should be to give to students the 

 equipment necessary to deal with the chief geological problems 

 that they will meet with in their varied professions ; it should show 

 them where to go for maps, memoirs, or descriptions of the areas 

 with which they are dealing ; and in cases of great difficulty should 

 enable them to see where further geological assistance is required, 

 and to weigh and balance the expert evidence given them against 

 the economic and other factors of the problem before them. 



From men educated thus geology has the right to expect 

 a valuable return. There is a vast amount of knowledge on 

 economic subjects in existence but not readily accessible. It has 

 been obtained by experts, and after being used is locked up or lost. 

 And yet it is the very kind of knowledge which is wanted to extend 



