166 MINUTES. [May 20, 



Final Report, but some years prior to that date the corps was dis- 

 banded and Prof. Lesley had turned his attention to other matters. 



He was Secretary of the American Iron and Steel Association for 

 six years, and during that time he published The Iron Manufac- 

 turers' Guide (1856), which is a complete list of the active furnaces 

 in the United States and a very complete discussion of the iron 

 ores. 



Of course much of this is now obsolete, but at the time it was 

 the first and only manual on the subject. 



About the same time he published his Manual of Coal. 



This little book, a model of its kind, contains, first, a description 

 of the coals of Pennsylvania, remarkable for its accuracy, and, sec- 

 ond, a concise treatise on *' Surface Geology." In this the author 

 insists on the importance of topography as an adjunct to geology. 



Prof. Spencer, in a recent address {Popular Science Monthly^ May, 

 1898), says, ^'Geomorphy is the outgrowth of topography, which was 

 made a science fifty or sixty years ago by Prof. J. P. Lesley and his 

 coworkers. Its birth is graphically described by the author himself." 



And from the very beginning of the Second Geological Survey, 

 Prof. Lesley has always insisted on the importance of topography 

 as preliminary to geology. This is shown by the repeated efforts of 

 the Board at his instigation to obtain an appropriation for a topo- 

 graphical survey. The failure of these efforts will account for the 

 fact that the Second Geological Survey is not as satisfactory as it 

 might have been made. 



It seems strange at this date that any argument should be neces- 

 sary in favor of topography as preliminary to geology. 



After the disbandment of the First Survey, Prof. Lesley was con- 

 stantly occupied as an expert geologist — which work 1 00k him all 

 over our State and into adjoining States. He became thoroughly 

 familiar with every square mile of the State geologically and geo- 

 graphically. 



In this time he made frequent professional visits to Europe, 

 where he made acquaintance with all eminent geologists, many of 

 whom became his life-long friends. 



In one of these visits he saw that the key to the complicated 

 structure of the Jura was to be found in Pennsylvania, and Desor 

 came over here and learned from us how to interpret the Jura 

 problem. 



This varied professional experience, as evinced in his reports to 



