8o SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. S- 



few months of travel through the coal regions of Virginia and Ken- 

 tucky, he finally arrived in Cincinnati, to which locality he was 

 attracted by the rich paleontological nature of the underlying forma- 

 tions. 



His financial condition, however, was such that the only choice 

 left open to him was to establish himself in his profession, which he 

 continued to practice for the ensuing twenty-four years, in the 

 meantime perfecting himself in his English studies as best he might 

 and occupying his leisure hours with a study of the natural sciences, 

 particularly the fresh-water mollusks and invertebrate fossils with 

 which the region abounded. After a few months' residence at Cin- 

 cinnati he removed to Chillicothe, Ohio, where he remained for 

 eleven years, though only fairly prosperous. In i860 he removed to 

 Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he resided for the remainder of his life. 

 During the first twelve years" residence here he continued his medical 

 practice, and was pecuniarily somewhat more successful than at 

 Chillicothe. 



The Geological Survey of ^Michigan was reorganized in 1869, with 

 Professor Alexander Winchell as director. On the recommendation 

 of the numerous friends he had made through his paleontological 

 studies, and especially through the influence of Professor James Hall, 

 of Albany, Dr. Rominger was engaged by the survey as paleontolo- 

 gist in 1870. Professor Winchell resigned in 1871, and Rominger 

 remained in full charge, first of his particular department and finally, 

 after the withdrawal of Brooks and Pumpelly, of the entire survey, 

 until, with a change in the political administration in 1883, he was 

 succeeded by Professor Charles E. Wright. 



During all this time his chief interests were paleontological, though 

 circumstances naturally caused him to devote attention also to 

 stratigraphy. Among the reports of this survey, the third part of 

 volume I (1873), volumes iii (1876) and iv (1881) in their entirety, 

 and the first part of volume v (1895) ^^^ o^ his authorship. The 

 third part of volume i related to the Paleozoic rocks in the upper 

 peninsulas. Of volume iii, two hundred and twenty-five pages and 

 fifty-five plates were devoted to paleontology — mainl}- to fossil corals. 

 The reports of 1881 and 1895 dealt almost entirely with economical 

 problems relating to the iron and copper regions of the Upper Penin- 

 sula. 



Rominger's life was typical of that of many of the earlier geolog- 

 ical workers, and that he accomplished so much, considering the dif- 

 ficulties under which he labored, is one of the many impressive facts 

 brought out by the study of the history of early American geology. 

 Aside from financial considerations, his ignorance of the language 



