VIII.—Criticisms on Recent Papers about Faults

Extract

In recent Numbers of the Geological Magazine has appeared a paper by the Rev. O. Fisher, “On Faults, Jointing, and Cleavage,” which, it seems to me, should not be left to stand unchallenged. It is one of those in which mathematical symbols are made to do duty for arguments. Some idea is started, a few W's and P's are scattered about, an equation is written down, it leads to nothing, and then the conclusion is triumphantly reached. Sometimes, however, there is no conclusion at all; but statements come in incidentally which will hereafter be quoted with the introduction “I have shown.” Surely there must be many geological birds too old to be caught by such chaff; but the “Magazine” is also for the nestlings. Such papers, too, are otherwise harmful, for the wideawake soon learn that credit may be gained by work unfinished, and speculations that are crude, and they are tempted so to seek it rather than by harder labour. So goes our science down and loses caste.