ed by man ; and (4) historical or biological geology— often 

 called pala2onto]ogy — the fossil remains, as found in rocks 

 of different periods, illustrating the succession of life-forms 

 in the history of the ^lobe. 



Of these branches, the first and fourth are fairly rep- 

 resented ; the second and third have as yet but small 

 illustration, save in the Russian and the Shepard col- 

 lections, described under minerals, above. With regard 

 to the third, also, a good deal was obtained by Prof. 

 Ashley at the close of the Exposition and valuable addi- 

 tions are promised by the State Geologist, Prof. Sloan, as 

 soon as there is room to display them. This is an extremely 

 important and practical branch of geological science and 

 there should certainly be in this city, accessible to the pub- 

 lic, a good and full exhibit in economic geology, especially 

 in the mineral resources of South Carolina. There is. how- 

 ever, at present, no space to arrange and display suitably 

 even what the Museum now has and the very valuable and 

 instructive exhibit now offered by Prof. Sloan, is condi- 

 tioned on the acquisition of the Auditorium, or some ade- 

 quate place for permanent display. 



The palasontological collection contains much that is good 

 and characteristic, representing the fossils of most of the 

 important periods of geological time. At some points, how- 

 ever, it needs enlargement. The plants of the coal period 

 are well represented, and so is the remarkable group of 

 nautilus-like shells, the ammonites and their kindred, that 

 characterized the mesozoic era. These are illustrated part- 

 ly by actual specimens, and partly by a fine series of casts 

 or models, procured from Prof. Ward, of Rochester, N. Y. 

 A considerable series of the fossil shells of the Jura forma- 

 tion, and the subsequent Cretaceous, from Switzerland, 

 was presented through Dr. Manigault, by the eminent ge- 

 ologist. Prof. DeSaussure, of Geneva. The largest rep- 

 resentation is that of the Tertiary shells of this State, 



43 



