GEOLOGICAL ATnTD ^\^TUnAL HISTORY SURV15YS. 131 



Ordered, Thnt Messrs. Hodgdoii, Pillslniry, ami Burnhani be authorized to con- 

 tract with Charles T. Jackson, of Boston, to commence tlie geological survey of 

 the State, subject to the instructions of the president of this board, in pur- 

 suance of a resolve of March 28, 183G. 



Doctor Jackson received his commission from Governor Dimlap 

 of Maine on July 18, 183G, and from Gov. Edward Everett of 

 Massachusetts on the same date. 



Jackson was assisted during 1836 by Dr. T. Purrington, of Bruns- 

 wick, Maine, and James T. Hodge, of Massachusetts; during 1837, 

 by J. T. Hodge and W. C. Larabee; and 1838, by Samuel L. 

 Stephenson, of Portland, and Ariel Wall, of Hallowell, the appoint- 

 ments being made with the consent of the governor's council. 



The dual nature of the survey made necessary the rendering of 

 reports to the governors of both States, those relating exclusively to 

 the public lands being addressed to the chief executive of Massa- 

 chusetts, and those of the uiore comprehensive State survey to that 

 of IMaine. 



The first report of the public lands survey appeared in the form 

 of senate document No. 89, printed at Boston in 1837, under the title 

 of First lleport on the Geology of the Public Lands Belonging 

 Jointlv to the States of Massachusetts and Maine, an octavo pam- 

 phlet of some 47 pages. The second report was issued as house docu- 

 ment No. 70, Boston, 1838, and consisted of an octavo pamphlet of 

 93 pages. 



Jackson's fii*st report as State geologist appeared under date of 

 1837, as did the report on the public lands. It formed an octavo 

 pamphlet of 127 pages. The second report appeared in 1838 — an 

 octavo pamphlet of 168 pages; and the third and last in 1839, com- 

 prising 276 and Ixiv pages. 



The character of the information furnished in all these reports 

 was necessarily somewhat fragmentary. Much of the country was 

 covered by dense forest and could be traversed only by boats on the 

 larger streams. 



The first reports on the public lands dealt mainly with the country 

 along the northeastern boundary, a territory nearly as large as that 

 of the State of Massachusetts. Doctor Jackson gave a somewhat 

 general account of the mineral resources and topography, while Mr. 

 Hodge, in the second report, gave a description of the geology of 

 the land in the vicinity of Mount Katahdin and the region of the 

 Aroostook, Penobscot, the Alleguash, the St. John, and the St. 

 Francis rivers. There was also a chapter on the agricultural geol- 

 ogy and the agricultural resources of Maine, and a table of baro- 

 metric and thermometric observations. 



