ements in each as best suit our purpose.

Above all things, let us know our subject. Here is a task before which
we quail in this generation of vast vistas. But there is no
alternative for us. No amount of method will remove the curse of the
superficially informed. Let us devote ourselves to smaller fields if
we must, but let us not tolerate ignorance among those who bear the
burden of passing on, with its flame ever more consuming, the torch of
knowledge.

HARVEY B. LEMON
_University of Chicago_

VII

THE TEACHING OF GEOLOGY

=Values of the study of geology diverse=

So wide is the scope of the science of the earth, so varied is its
subject matter, and so diverse are the mental activities called forth
in its pursuit, that its function in collegiate training cannot be
summed up in an introductory phrase or two. Geology is so composite
that it is better fitted to serve a related group of educational
purposes than a single one alone. Besides this, these possible
services have not yet become so familiar that they can be brought
vividly to mind by an apt word or phrase; they need elaboration and
exposition to be valued at what they are really worth. Geology is yet
a young science and still growing, and as in the case of a growing
boy, to know what it was a few years ago is not to know what it is
today. Its disciplines take on a realistic phase in the main, but yet
in some aspects appeal powerfully to the imagination. Its subject
matter forms a constitutional history of our planet and its
inhabitants, but yet largely wears a descriptive or a dynamic garb.

=Geology a study of the process of evolution=

Though basally historical, a large part of the literature of geology
is concerned with the description of rocks, structural features,
geologic terrains, surface configurations and their modes of formation
and means of identification. A notable part of the text prepared for
college students relates primarily to phenomena and processes, leaving
the history of the earth to follow later in a seemingly secondary way.
This has its defense in a desire first to make clear the modes of the
geologic processes, to the end that the parts played by these
processes in the complexities of actions that make up the historical
stages may be better realized. This has the effect, however, of giving
the impression that geology is primarily a study of rocks and
rock-forming proces