18 JOURNAL OF THE 



discussion of the general and economic geology of the State; 

 and Chapter I of this volume, discussing the "Minerals and 

 Mineral Localities of North Carolina/' was j)ublished by him 

 in 1881; but press of other duties at that time, his resignation 

 in 1882, in order to undertake the topographical and geological 

 work on the Appalachian division of the United States Geologi- 

 cal Survey, and his subsequent decline in health, all combined 

 to interrupt the completion of this report. So much of it as 

 relates to the economic geology of the State is now being pub- 

 lished under my own direction. Three additional small reports 

 of the survey were published by the State as public documents, 

 viz., a Keport of Progress in 1873, a Report on the Expendi- 

 tures of the Survey and a Report Concerning the Establisliment 

 of a State Department of Agriculture, in 1877. In 1882, Pro- 

 fessor Kerr published his new Map of North Carolina. 



He was appointed special agent of the Tenth United States 

 Census to report on the cotton production and general agricul- 

 tural features of Virginia and North Carolina; and his sepa- 

 rate reports on these States were published in Volume VI of 

 the Census Reports (1884). He was an occasional contributor 

 to the scientific journals of this country, and his more valuable 

 contributions are to be found in the American Journal of Sci- 

 ence, and in the Transaction of the American Institute of Min- 

 ing Engineers. He wrote the article on North Carolina in the 

 Encyclopaedia Britannica (9th Edition). 



Professor Kerr was a member of several learned societies, in- 

 cluding the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the 

 American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, and the Philo- 

 sophical Society of Washington. He was also a Fellow of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science. He 

 was a member of, and during the years 1884-'85 was President 

 of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society. 



When in August, 1882, he was offered the position of geolo- 

 gist on the United States Geological Survey, he accepted the 

 appointment in the hope that he might be able to carry into 

 execution a long cherished plan of making a more systematic 



