112 C. D. WALCOTT — OUTLOOK OF THE GEOLOGIST IN AMERICA 



ogy, and geomorphology is not easy to say, because so large a share of 

 progress on those lines is incidental. Most rock collections and much 

 petrographic description and study are incidental to general geologic 

 work, and the contributions to petrographic science which thus accrue 

 find no place in current notices of work in progress, but only in final 

 publications. Nevertheless, the ideas which make for the development 

 of petrographic science are largely suggested in the course of such acces- 

 sory and routine work, and, if it were possible to chronicle the year's 

 progress in petrographic science, the increments made and recorded in 

 connection with structural and areal geology would probably be found 

 no less important than those made by the monographic study of series 

 of rock specimens, and they would certainly have a wider range. The 

 same is true in the whole- range of dynamic geology. The students 

 who go to the field or the laboratory for the purpose of solving specific 

 problems as to the processes of terrestrial changes are comparatively 

 few. The great body of workers in what may be called applied geol- 

 ogy — the classification of local rock bodies according to existing catego- 

 ries, their description, and their, delineation in maps and sections — these 

 men are continually on the alert for phenomena which throw light on 

 the many unexplained factors of geologic process, and it is mainly 

 through their alertness that dynamic geology is advancing. 



The Present 



The outline which has been presented shows, approximately, the 

 great variety of the geologic studies that are being prosecuted at the 

 present time. A better conception of the extent and relations of these 

 broadly outlined geologic studies would be afforded if it were practica- 

 ble, in this connection, to state the problems which are known to geolo- 

 gists of the present day. But it is certain that even the briefest state- 

 ment of known problems- would extend this address far beyond its 

 reasonable, limit. 



To illustrate : In a paper on the correlation of the Cambrian, pub- 

 lished in 1891, was given an outline of the problems affecting our knowl* 

 edge of the Cambrian series as a whole or in large part, and also many 

 important local problems. It was recognized, however, that many of 

 the local problems not given might, on investigation, be found to be of 

 equal, if not greater, importance than many that were suggested. This 

 brief outline of the Cambrian problems occupied 11 pages of printed 

 matter. It will be readily seen that to extend such an outline to cover 

 all the known problems of other time divisions would be an imprac- 

 ticable task at this time. 



