38 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOSTON MEETING 



the field-work of the Great Basin Division was closed. In 1884 Gilbert 

 was placed in charge of the Appalachian Division of Geology. On Janu- 

 ary 1, 1889, the Division of Geologic Correlation w^as created and Gilbert 

 placed at its head, and on July 1 he became Chief Geologist — a position 

 which he retained until August, 1892. 



Naturally this general period is not one prolific in personal studies. 

 To be sure, the Bonneville monograph, which Gilbert himself in a per- 

 sonal letter has called his magnum opus, was completed during this 

 interval and appeared in 1890 ; but it is the fruit of earlier investigations. 

 Some of his best brief philosophical papers, like the first presidential 

 address before the American Society of N"aturalists, on '^^The inculcation 

 of scientific methods by example," belong to this period ; but on the whole 

 his contributions are indirect and appear largely in the work of others, 

 whom he counseled and inspired, and in the general advance made by the 

 Federal Survey toward a leading position among organizations of its class. 



He had much to do with the planning and inauguration of the Survey's 

 bibliographic work, whose annual volumes are now such useful tools in 

 the hands of investigators. He had no small part in the adoption of the 

 ])rinciples of nomenclature and cartography set forth in the Tenth and 

 Twenty-fourth Annual Reports and forming the basis of the Survey's 

 geologic map-work. As head of the Division of Geologic Correlation he 

 was responsible for the selection of the authors of the correlation bulletins 

 and for their preparation. 



As a clear analyst of problems and a master of scientific presentation, 

 as well as a sympathetic critic, he helped many an author from mediocrity 

 to respectability. That which Gilbert^^ said of Powell may well be said 

 also of Gilbert : 



"The work which he inspired, and to which he contributed the most impor- 

 tant creative elements, I believe to be at least as important as that for which 

 his name stands directly responsible." 



It is probable that, had he so desired, Gilbert might have become Di- 

 rector of the Geological Survey during this period; but his judgment of 

 himself and his capacities was as clear, cool, and detached as though he 

 had no personal interest whatever in the matter, and he decided that his 

 most useful field was that of research, not that of administration. 

 Powell's interest in the Bureau of Ethnology and in the philosophical 

 investigations in which he was engaged had very largely replaced his 

 personal interest in geological problems, so that he undoubtedly had it 



10 G. K. Gilbert : John Wesley Powell. Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 1J)02, pp. 633-640. 



