142 Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



liancy of pyrites, gave assurance of the existence of the precious 

 metals in those substances; or that the cutting of glass by the garnet, 

 and by quartz, proved that these minerals were the diamond; but if 

 they were not precious metals, and if the}^ were not diamonds, we in 

 vain inquired of our companions, and even our teachers, what the}' 

 were." 



An idea of the low state of Palaeontology, in 1809, ma}' be formed 

 from a letter written by Parker Cleveland, Professor of Mathematics 

 and Natural Philosophy, in Bowdoin College, and published in the 

 Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. iii., part 1. 

 He had carefully watched the digging of two wells through sand and 

 into blue clay; one of them was at a distance of about 20 miles from 

 the sea, and three or four miles from the tide, in Cathance river, and 

 had an elevation estimated at 70 or 80 feet above the tide. This well 

 was dug 20 feet deep. The first 10 feet was through sand and gravel. 

 At the depth of 10 feet a stratum of blue clay was found, which had the 

 appearance and smell of that dug on flats, or near salt marshes. In this 

 clay he found shells; one a clam, "two varieties of muscle," and one 

 large conical form, whose generic name he knew rot, but the same 

 genus he said " is found on our sea shores." The other well was near 

 Brunswick, 80 feet above tide water, in the Androscoggin, and half 

 a mile from the river. At the depth of 12 feet, a four feet stratum 

 of clay was found having the same smell, and containing shells i)lenti- 

 fuUy interpersed, similar to those found in the well near Cathance river. 

 He thought that important advantages would result from possessing 

 a geographical map, indicating the different species of fossil shells, 

 and the places in which they were found, especiall}'^ where the country 

 or coast might be thickl}^ inhabited; because, he says, " with such a 

 map before us, we should be better enabled to compare individual facts, 

 and hence to draw several conclusions." 



In 1818, Prof. Benjamin Silliman commenced the publication of the 

 American Journal of Science and Arts, which, through his remarkable 

 talent, and unbounded energy, at once took rank with the scientific 

 journals of Europe. It has now reached the 119th volume, and the 

 aid it has rendered the sciences of Geology and Palaeontology is un- 

 measured. 



In 1818, William McClure prepared an "Essay on the Formation of 

 Rocks, or an inquiry into the probable origin of their present form 

 and structure," which was published in the Journal of the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences, of Philadelphia, vol. i., part 2. He says: 



"Concerning the nature and properties of the great mass, which 



