186 The American Geologist. September, 1894 
is just entering upon this last stage and has made considerable 
progress in it. This development of the economic side of ge- 
ology has been very rapid in America within the last fifteen 
years, and it foretells for the future such changes from our 
present methods of industrial economy that when they are 
fully established they will revolutionize many of the conven- 
tional ways of modern society. The discovery of the means 
to control electricity will lead directly to the employment of 
water power to execute most of the costly work at the mine. 
With a cheapening of the work will go an extension of the 
product of the mine, and this will extend the mining industry 
in all its ramifications. 
The American Institute of Mining Engineers has been the 
head and front of this rapid growth of the mining interests 
amongst the practical geologists of the country. It represents 
the best organized S3 T stem for bringing together for compari- 
son and for preservation the results and methods of the scien- 
tific miners of the United States. Its establishment marked 
an epoch in scientific mining in America. Its published vol- 
umes are among the most valuable geological works of the 
day. Here the theoretical systematist in geology will find his 
theories put to the unfailing test of practice. It is not too 
much to say that to the miner, and hence to the mining indus- 
try. geolog} r must look for most of its future progress, at least 
in the United States. In Canada the economic side of geology 
has always been put to the front and systematic geology has 
been comparatively neglected. The reverse has been the ease 
in the United States. The example of New York State, which 
has entirely neglected, officially, its economic resources and 
has spent much upon the technical and paleontologic aspects 
of geological science, has been followed by too many of the 
state surveys and too closely by the United States survey. 
Economic geology has made headway in spite of this indiffer- 
ence. Speculative and technical geology has had the field for 
many years, but it becomes more and more apparent that 
room must he made for an extension of that phase of the sci- 
ence which directly concerns the greatest number of people. 
The second epoch-marking event in this progress is the es- 
tablishment of the publication which is above referred to. 
The United States Geological Survey has made an effort to 
