40 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVIII. No. 445. 



perfect understanding of the laws which 

 govern its manifestations. 



How the information gathered by the 

 various branches of the field Avork is util- 

 ized in the ofBce and prepared for publica- 

 tion belongs to another chapter which can 

 not be read to-day. Nor will time permit 

 a reference to the mechanism of its organ- 

 ization. AVhat the survey is and does is 

 due to the men who composed its working 

 force in the past and who compose it in 

 the present, and, therefore, this fragmen- 

 tary account may be fitly closed with a 

 brief reference to the men who carry out 

 its field work. 



While there is a proper amount of spe- 

 cialization which leads to excellence in 

 particular branches of work, the field of- 

 ficers hold themselves in readiness to per- 

 form any kind of duty which may be re- 

 quired of them. It may be to pack a mule 

 train or to command a ship, . to pitch a 

 camp or outfit a vessel, to sound along the 

 edge of resistless breakers, to climb glaciers 

 or to break through tropical jungles, to 

 guide vessels through uncharted dangers 

 or men along a mountain trail, to look after 

 the health of their men in all climates, to 

 provide months in advance for supplying 

 them with food in regions where none can 

 be purchased, to build structures which 

 shall tower over tall trees of the western 

 forests in order to see distant stations, to 

 observe the stars by night, to watch the 

 swinging pendulum for the determination 

 of gravity, to measure the forces of the 

 earth's magnetism, to note the tides and 

 currents, to sound the waters of the ocean, 

 to map the topography of the land, to trace 

 international or state boundaries, to cover 

 the land with a network of triangulation, 

 or to join their no less zealous co-workers 

 in the office in the reduction and discus- 

 sion of results. Long as this recital of 

 their occupation may seem, it is but a tithe 



of what might be said. Surely the merest 

 contemplation of these duties shows how 

 high the calling of the men who must per- 

 form them, and if high thinking and plain 

 living and a life of deeds are things which 

 deserve admiration, they earn it day and 

 night, year in and year out. 



Perhaps the zeal and devotion to duty 

 is born in part of the difficulties which 

 men must overcome in the accomplishment 

 of a great purpose. But to whatever it is 

 due, it appears to be common to the craft, 

 as appears from the tribute paid to the 

 British surveyors by the historian of the 

 Great Trigonometrical Survey of India, a 

 tribute which is cited here for the glory 

 of the engineering profession. 



"It is and has been a very noble band, 

 that body of surveyors who have been 

 trained and have worked under Lambton, 

 Everest, Waugh and Walker. It is no 

 small honor to be at their head. These 

 men must combine the knowledge and hab- 

 its of thought of a Cambridge wrangler 

 with the energy, resource and presence of 

 mind of an explorer or back^voodsman, and 

 they must add to this the gallantry and de- 

 votion which inspire the leaders of a forlorn 

 hope. The danger of service in the jungles 

 and swamps of India, with the attendant 

 anxiety and incessant work, is greater than 

 that encountered on a battle-field ; the per- 

 centage of deaths is larger, while the sort 

 of courage that is required is of a far 

 higher order. The story of the Great 

 Trigonometric Survey when fitly told will 

 form one of the proudest pages in the his- 

 tory of English domination in the East." 



Is there anything which can stir the 

 blood more than this reference to the fierce 

 conquest of great difficulties in order to 

 achieve a high purpose, or anything more 

 ennobling than the contemplation of un- 

 selfish devotion to duty? 



0. H. TlTTMANN. 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 



