326 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. 



G-eorge Gribbs, of Rhode Island, for many years a resident of 

 Europe, returned from Lis travels with a collection of minerals, 

 the most extensive and valuable ever brought to America. Colo- 

 nel Gibbs was a zealous cultivator of mineralogy, and, fortun- 

 ately for science, a young man of wealth. He used his money 

 freely for the purchase of whole cabinets, as well as in personal 

 explorations in search for minerals. The larger part of his col- 

 lection was made by the purchase of two famous European cabi- 

 nets, one from the heirs of Gigot d'Orcy, a noted French collector, 

 and said to be the result of forty years' labor, the other from 

 Count Gregoire de Razamowsky, a Russian nobleman, long resi- 

 dent in Switzerland. D'Orey's cabinet numbered over 4,000 

 specimens, chiefly from France, Germany, Italy, and Great 

 Britain; Razamowsky 's contained about 6,000 specimens from the 

 Russian empire and the remainder principally from Germany and 

 Switzerland; in all, with the other collections made by Colonel 

 Gibbs, it is said that more than 20,000 specimens were brought 

 by him to this country. In 1807, a portion of the collection was 

 opened in Newport, and many interested in mineralogy made 

 pilgrimages there, to view the treasures it contained. Among 

 others was Professor Silliman, who states in his diary that he 

 spent many weeks in studying the minerals with Colonel Gibbs, 

 finding in the latter " a scientific friend and a professional instruc- 

 tor and guide." That Colonel Gibbs reciprocated Professor Sil- 

 liman's feelings of friendship there can be no doubt, for after 

 various off"ers to deposit his collection for exhibition in Boston, 

 New York and elsewhere, to the great surprise of Professor Silli- 

 man he proposed to open the cabinet at Yale College, provided 

 rooms should be fitted up for its reception. The proposition was 

 promptly responded to by the authorities of the college, and in 

 1810, 1811 and 1812, under the personal supervision of Colonel 

 Gibbs, it was opened and arranged, and generously placed at the 

 disposition of the institution and the public. The opening of 

 this collection in New Haven formed an important epoch in the 

 history of the college, and gave a powerful impetus to science 

 throughout the country. It was not only studied by the pupils 

 of the college, but it was visited by travellers from all parts of 

 the United States. In 1825, the collection had for fifteen years 

 been exhibited without any advantage to the owner, other than 

 the satisfaction of observins: the 2;reat amount of sood which was 

 eflected by the knowledge it disseminated, and the enthusiasm 



