Abstract
ALL who are interested in the careful and methodical investigation of the geological structure of the European continent will be sorry to learn that the Belgian Chamber of Representatives has cut down the vote for the prosecution of the detailed Geological Survey of Belgium so seriously as practically to suspend the work. It is miserable to see personal dislikes, religious differences and political antagonism imported into the discussion of a scientific project. Every competent witness must bear testimony to the minute fidelity and conscientious labour with which M. Dupont and his staff have carried out their Survey. If any fault can be found with his maps it is, that they are too complete. They give more information than any ordinary reader can assimilate. Each sheet, indeed, is a detailed treatise on the area which it depicts. There are certainly no such elaborately exhaustive maps published in any other country ; and Belgium may justly boast that she has led the way in an important advance in the delineation of geological features. It is an open secret, however, that the official geologists have all along encountered the determined opposition of the “géologues libres” who were not so fortunate as to be entrusted with the control of the work. The Survey having been planned by the Liberal Ministry, and being stoutly supported by the authorities, has until now been able to hold on its course. Much time was, no doubt necessarily, spent by M. Dupont in perfecting his system of colour-printing, and the delay in the appearance of his maps, possibly also the difficulty found by the malcontents in understanding them, were used as arguments for a total reorganisation of the staff. The opposition has recently been renewed under the clerical Government now in power, and unfortunately with more success. From the published debate it is clear that the Minister in whose department the estimate for the Geological Map was prepared, and who was officially bound to support that estimate, sat still without speaking in its defence, and the House, taking this silence, no doubt, as an expression of the inclination of the new Government, cut down the vote. We are sure that this retrograde step will be regretted by all who wish well to the progress of science. Into the personal squabbles connected with the subject we have no wish to enter. But as a public act of unwisdom the vote of the House of Representatives will, we hope, be rescinded and the prosecution of the Survey will be again allowed to proceed. If any fault is found with the way in which the map has been prepared, surely the Commission contains talent and energy enough to inquire into this and set matters right without practically bringing the Survey to a stand.
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The Geological Survey of Belgium . Nature 32, 154 (1885). https://doi.org/10.1038/032154a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/032154a0