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SCIENCE- 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 58. 



instructor to midshipmen on a cruise in the 

 Mediterranean. His first contribution to 

 science was the result of observations made 

 on this cruise; it is entitled ' On the Condi- 

 tion of Vesuvius in July, 1834.' At this 

 early age, therefore, he began the study of 

 volcanoes. While on the exploring expedi- 

 tion in the Pacific he visited the great volca- 

 noes of the Hawaiian Islands. There is on 

 the earth no other such region of fire as that 

 first studied bj^ Dana, and we may say last 

 studied by him, for he revisited the region 

 in his old age. Thus, on the exploring ex- 

 pedition he was introduced to two of the 

 great geological agencies — vulcanism, the 

 most conspicuous, and animal life, no less 

 potent but less obtrusive. 



On his return to the United States Dana 

 resumed work in Yale College and contin- 

 ued field explorations in mineralogy and 

 geology. The part of New England which 

 he was led to explore is a region mainly of 

 metamorphic rocks, and as a mineralogist 

 he was especially equipped for such a field. 

 It is also a region of glaciation, and he 

 threw his energies into these two fields, 

 which at that time were obscure. On the 

 one hand he found glaciation interpreted 

 simply as iceberg transportation, and on 

 the other as a universal or almost universal 

 ice period. These theories never led him 

 astray, but with careful and persistent labor 

 he unraveled the problem, and, perhaps 

 more than any other man of his age, suc- 

 ceeded in putting glacial geology upon a 

 sound basis. Equipped as a botanist, deeply 

 versed in zoology and a great contributor 

 to knowledge in that department, the lead- 

 ing mineralogist of the world, and no in- 

 ferior chemist, the geology of the country 

 became his theme, and with it the geology 

 of the planet. At last he formulated a 

 general system of geology, which has be- 

 come the standard in America. His re- 

 searches in the field were extensive, but 

 they were reenforced by all the geological 



workers on the continent and the whole 

 geological literature of Europe. So Dana's 

 geology is not only a text-book of geology, 

 but it is the hand-book for all National, 

 State and local geologists, and all students 

 in the field. It is the universal book of 

 reference in that department of science. 

 Other text-books have been developed, but 

 no other hand-book for America. It is a 

 vast repository of facts, but all arranged 

 in such a manner as to constitute a system 

 of geologic philosophy. It is on every 

 worker's table and is carried in the kit of 

 every field observer. It has thus become 

 the standard to which all scientific research 

 is referred, and on which geologic reports 

 are modeled. Of the ten great men who 

 organized science, five were geologists — 

 Logan, the Eogers brothers, Dana and Hall, 

 who yet remains with us. May he be long 

 in the land! 



Dana as a zoologist was great, Dana as a 

 mineralogist was gi-eater, but Dana as a 

 geologist was greatest, and Dana in all 

 three was a philosopher, hence Dana's great 

 work is enduring. 



It thus came about that Dana wrought 

 his work into a systematic body of science. 

 The ruins of ancient towns and cities are 

 widely scattered over all the earth, and the 

 arts there entombed are disinterred as evi- 

 dences 01 former culture, but we do not 

 study ancient arts for the sake of imitating 

 them; ancient art never becomes the model 

 for modern art. The tribes and nations of 

 antiquity are themes of investigation, but 

 ancient institutions never become the 

 models for modern institutions. Ancient 

 languages are the themes of study, but 

 never more will ancient languages become 

 the models for modern languages. So an- 

 cient opinions are of profound interest, but 

 ancient opinions will never again become 

 the models for modern opinions. We study 

 the past for the history of the past, not as 

 a model to be imitated, but as exhibiting 



