om one to the other supplies a much needed corrective to
clear thinking. It is impossible to bring all the subject materials into
the classroom and laboratory; such study must inevitably be more or less
deductive and generalized. If the student at frequent intervals is not
able to acquire and renew a mental picture of field conditions, there is
likely to be a faulty perspective even in regard to principles, and a
considerable gap between the theoretical and applied phases of his
knowledge. It may be possible in the classroom, for instance, to discuss
faults in great detail with the aid of maps, diagrams, and pictures; and
yet it is extremely difficult to get a real three-dimensional conception
of the problems without actually standing on the ground.

SPECIALIZATION IN STUDIES

With the increasing size and efficiency of human operations has come an
inevitable tendency to specialization. Where, in the past, the necessary
geologic work might be passably done by the mining engineer, the local
superintendent or operator, it is now being intrusted to specialists.
Even within the more strictly engineering phases of the mining
engineer's work, there is the same tendency toward specialization; his
work is being divided up among the electrical engineers, the mechanical
engineers, the hydraulic engineers, and others. The opportunities for
geologic work, therefore, are distinctly in the direction of
specialization. The student in determining the field he shall enter
needs to take this fact into account and to prepare accordingly, but not
at the sacrifice of the broad basal training. Only a small part of the
specialization can be accomplished in college. The remainder will come
with experience.

In the future there is likely to be increasing specialization among the
different educational institutions in the phases of applied geology
which are taught. Geographic location has a good deal to do with this
tendency. Where an institution is located near a coal or oil field, it
is likely, as a matter of course, to specialize to some extent in the
application of geology to these resources. Or, the specialization may
arise from the fact that the teachers have had special training in
certain phases of applied geology, and such training naturally and
properly determines the emphasis to be placed. Courses in engineering
geology are finding a natural development in the leading engineering
colleges.

In view of the fact that it is impossibl