GEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SURVEYS. 41 



Assembly bill No. -115, npprovod April Ifl, IRSO. — An act to provide for the estiiblisliniont 

 and maintonance of a mininp liurcnn. 



The people of the State of California, represented in senate and a.iscrnbl'if, do 

 enact as folloics: 



Skctton 1. There shall be and is hereby established in this State a mining 

 bureau, the principal office of which shall be maintauied in the city of San 

 Francisco, at which place there shall be collected by the State mineralogist 

 and preserved for study and reference, specimens of all the gt^olosical and 

 minei'alogical substances, including mineral waters, found in this State, espe- 

 cially those possessing economic or conmiercial value, which specimens shall 

 be mai'ked, arranged, classified, and described, and a record thereof preserved, 

 showing the character thereof and the place from whence obtained. The State 

 mineralogist shall also, as he has opportunity and means, collect, and in like 

 manner preserve at said office, minerals, rocks, and fossils of other States, 

 Territories, and countries, and the collections so made shall at all reasonable 

 hours be open to public inspection, examination, and study. 



Skc. 2. It shall be the duty of the governor to appoint a citizen of this State 

 having a practical and scientitic knowledge of mining and mineralogy to the 

 office of State mineralogist, to hold his said office for the term of four years, or 

 until the appointment and qualification of his successor, who shall take and 

 subscribe the oath of office prescribed by the constitution, and who shall re- 

 ceive for his services a salary of $3,000 per annum, to be paid as other officers 

 of the State are paid, and shall also receive his necessary traveling expenses 

 when traveling on the business of his office, to be allowed and audited by the 

 State board of examiners, the whole to be paid out of the mining bureau fund 

 hereinafter provided foi', and not otherwise. 



Sec. 3. In addition to the collection, classification, arranging, and preserva- 

 tion of specimens, as provided in the first section of this act, it shall be the 

 duty of the State mineralogist to make analytical assays as required ; and, 

 v/hen the funds in tlie mining bureau fund are sufficient therefor, to provide and 

 maintain a library of works on mineralogy, geology, and raining; to arrange in 

 cases such specimens as he may collect ; to procui'e and preserve models and 

 drawings of mining machinery, and of milling machinery used in the reduction 

 of ores; to correspond with established schools of mining and metallurgy, and 

 obtain and preserve for public inspection and use such information respecting 

 i^nprovemcnts in mining and mining machinery as will lie of practical value 

 to the people of this State; to visit the several mining districts of eacii county 

 of the State from time to time, ascertain and record their history, describe 

 their geological formation and altitudes, the character of the mines and ores, 

 and the general development of the district. At the close of each year he shall 

 make a report in detail to the governor, shov.iug the amount of disbursements 

 of the bureau under his charge, the number of specimens collected, and giving 

 such statistical information in reference to mines and mining as siiall be 

 deemed important. 



Skc. 4. The State mineralogist may, from time to time and as the funds iti 

 the mining bureau fund will permit, appoint such assistants as he may deem 

 necessary and pioper for the carrying out of the objects of this act, jind the efli- 

 cient provision and maintenance of a bureau of mining information and statis- 

 tics, and may procure and maintain the necessary rooms and furniture for the 

 oflBce and uses of the bureau in San Francisco; but the entire expenses of the 

 bureau for Siil.iries, assistance, rents, furniture, fuel, and all otlier things yier- 



