1887] Methods of Instruction in General Geology. . 625 
deep and exhaustive study of what is at hand and is capable 
of such exhaustive treatment than is possible by the method of 
discursive rambling over a greater number of facts. 
The materials ready at hand for us at Cornell University are 
Devonian ; but the student who has learned accurately to identify 
species of a Devonian fauna has learned the relative importance 
of characters for classification; has learned the nature of varia- 
bility, the relation of species to geological horizon, the modifi- 
cation of specific types with retention of generic features on 
passing from zone to zone; has studied the range and distribu- _ 
tion of the species; has gained a conception of what faunal as- 
sociation is and how it is related to the lithological character of 
‘the deposits; I say the man who has grasped these details of 
the science by the use of Devonian material alone is ready to 
undertake investigations in any geological period, from the 
Cambrian to the Tertiary. The facts may differ, but the methods 
of research will be the same; and this method and skill cannot 
be attained by any amount of the mere memorizing of the names 
of a labelled collection of fossils. 
It is a mistaken view to imagine that that kind of acquirement 
which only removes the Megatherium, the Ichthyosaurus, the Tri- 
: lobite, and the Palzoniscus from the region of wonderland to a 
place among the things we have seen, is geology. So long as- : 
- we use our museums as curiosity-shops and cover our ignorance 
with Latin nomenclature, we cannot expect to lift our science out — 
of the region of crudities. 
_ There is, however, some value to be derived from studying 
over labelled collections, but this must not be without the study 
. of: the fossils as they occur in the rocks, and the determining of 
the characters, the names, and the horizon, each man for himself. 
And if the rocks are crystalline and not fossiliferous, this de- 
termines beforehand that there are not present the best facilities 
for the study of paleontology, although great museums may have 
been accumulated, 
ie natural’ rock foundations of the region in which a uni- = 
versity is built thus decide the particular part of geological 
_ science which may be there taught most successfully. — 
To this fact may be traced the explanation why Harvard, Yale, 
and Amherst have been so prolific in physical geologists and 
erop; why New York State has given us so — r > 
Aj 
CR 
