1881. J NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 499 



The Department of the Library pertaining to Geology and 

 Palaeontology has received many valuable accessions during the 

 3'ear, for a considerable portion of which the Academy is indebted 

 to the liberality of Mr. Joseph Jeanes. 



Angelo Heilprin, 

 Professo7' of Invertebrate Palaeontology. 



REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OP MINERALOGY FOR 



1881. 



In submitting to j'ou this, m}' first annual report upon the 

 condition and needs of the department under my charge, allow me 

 to express my appreciation of the assistance which has been 

 rendered through the active co-operation of your committee 

 on instruction, in the discharge of mj^ duties as Professor of 

 Mineralog3". 



Under their auspices a course of practical instruction in Miner- 

 alogy- was given during the months of March and April. It 

 consisted of thirteen lectures, and was attended by a class of about 

 35, being as large in number as could convenientl}"^ be accommo- 

 dated in the room set apart for the purpose. The course opened 

 with a review of the history of Mineralogy and of mineralogical 

 classification. Succeeding lectures consisted of a detailed descrip- 

 tion of the characters of minerals and an exposition of the methods 

 used in mineralogical determination, with experiments. Speci- 

 mens from the valuable collection of the Academy were used in 

 illustration. Practical work was successfully carried on by nearly 

 all the class. It consisted of the determination of the characters 

 of minerals, the application of chemical tests to detect their 

 constituents, and the performance of the various operations of 

 blowpipe analysis. This was supplemented by a day of practical 

 work in the field. 



The summer months were emplo3^ed in discovering and tracing 

 the line across Pennsylvania of the great terminal moraine of the 

 North American glacier; the work having been accomplished 

 with the assistance of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsyl- 

 vania, and of which a report will shortly be published. 



The mineral collection of the Academy has been increased 

 during the past year by valuable additions. The donations made 



