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The Work of the Geological Survey » 
•Their scale was small, and their topography often meagre and even 
inaccurate. For geological research they were inadequate, while for 
industrial purposes they were entirely insufficient and even in some 
degree misleading. The connexion between geological investigation 
and many practical affairs in daily life had now begun to be perceived. 
In this country the first geologist who devoted himself to the de- 
velopment of this connexion was Henry Thomas de la Beche — a 
name which we regard with pride and affection as that of one of the 
greatest leaders of the science whom Britain has produced. Having 
begun to study the geological structure of Devon, Cornwall, and 
West Somerset, he became greatly interested in the many problems 
which the rocks of that region present. He saw that an accurate 
delineation of the courses of the mineral veins, elvans, and faults 
through the masses of killas and granite could not but be of the 
utmost service in the prosecution of the mineral industry on which 
the prosperity of the country so largely depended. Accordingly, 
supplying himself with the Ordnance maps on the scale of one inch 
to a mile, he began, with a few assistants and at his own charges, 
to map the details of the geology. Impressed with the national 
importance of the work which he had undertaken, he made application 
to the Government of the day for assistance and recognition. In 
the year 1832 he obtained a small Parliamentary grant-in-aid, and 
in successive years he was able to so influence the official mind 
in favour of the views which he advocated that in the end he had 
the gratification of establishing a Geological Survey of the kingdom 
as one of the scientific undertakings of the nation, with an affiliated 
School of Mines, a Museum of Practical Geology, and a Mining 
Record Office. His aim was to conduct the whole establishment on 
the basis of strictly scientific investigation, but to afford in every 
possible direction all the aid which geology could furnish to mining 
industry, engineering works, agricultural progress, and other practical 
affairs. This design, broadly conceived by him, was efficiently 
carried into execution. The Geological Survey which he founded 
grew under his fostering care and that of his successors, and became 
the parent and model of the other national surveys which have 
since been organised so plentifully both in the Old World and in 
the New. 
Without attempting to give, even in outline, a history of the 
progress of our Geological Survey, I propose to offer some details as 
to the nature and extent of the work that is now carried on by the 
Survey. The designs so ably planned by Sir Henry de la Beche 
were extended by his successor, Sir Roderick Murchison, and were 
further improved by my predecessor, Sir Andrew Ramsay. Since 
my own appointment as Director-General, in 1881, I have been 
enabled to introduce other modifications that tend to still greater 
efficiency. But essentially the organisation and methods remain 
as they were planned by the first founder of the service. 
The Geological Survey is now divided into three distinct branches 
— one for each of the three kingdoms — but united and kept in 
organic connexion under one Dii’ector-General. Each staff has its 
