labor from time immemorial. Piiysii-ally and morally these two classes have al- 

 ways appeared to me widely difl'erent, and I have doubted their having a common 

 origin. The aborigines of Mexico, Peru, and Chile, were found by their Euro- 

 pean conquerors in a high state of civilization. In their knowledge of the useful 

 arts, except the art of war, they equalled their invaders, and their agriculture was 

 carried to great perfection, for Indian remains of extensive works of irrigation arc 

 still to be found in those territories. There exists evidence, likewise, of their hav- 

 ing been inhabited, for centuries before the conquest, by a race still more highly 

 advanced in the arts of life; and even within our own limits, the tumuli of the 

 West denote the existence in that country, at one period, of a superior race to 

 that which the first white settlers found there. These are subjects which it is ex- 

 pected will engage the attention of the Institution, the examination of which can- 

 nut fail to shed light on our early history. 



"Geology assumes in this country a greater interest than elsewhere, from the 

 vastness of the region, from the great extent of its contiguous formation, and from 

 its being a comparatively unexplored field for scientific investigation. It is im- 

 portant to ascertain whether this portion of the world has, like that already exam- 

 ined, been subjected in its creation to greit general rules of construction, or, if 

 that order has been departed from, to know in what particulars. Such investiga- 

 tions have already been carried to some extent, but the results are not universally 

 known ; and the geologist cannot ascertain, with any precision, the laws which 

 govern the formations of this portion of the earth, and the relative order of their 

 distribution, without some central place where specimens may be deposited, facts 

 reported, and all necessary information obtained. Sensible of the advantages to 

 be derived from conferring together to comp.ire facts and rhutually to correct theo- 

 ries, the geologists of the United States lately assembled at Philadelphia, and separ- 

 ated, it is understood, with the intention of meeting annually. Wherever such 

 combinations exist, they have produced the most beneficial results; and the exist- 

 ence of a museum of natural history here, will render Washington the nmst desirable 



place of meeting for the scientific associations of (he Union." 



* _ • # » 



" Indeed, the knowledge ofGeology contributes, in an essential degree, to all the 



useful arts ; and it is obvious that collections of geological and mineralogical spcri- 



meng, brought from every part of our country and rendered generally accessible to 



the people of the I'nited States, lieing exhibited at the seat of Government, will 



tend to the advancement ol knowledge, and its dilVusion among our fillow-riti/ens." 

 • • • • • .1 



" There is still something watiling to give to the srience ol Minernlopv that furth- 

 er practical usefulness for which it is so well adapted, and which, in this country, 

 i< 80 much needed. Within the territory of the United States, almost every va- 

 riety of mineral, useful or necesnary to the wants of man, is found in greater or 

 lew abundance. In our southern States, gold ; in our western, copper, lead, and 

 zinc ; and almost in all, iron and coal, in inexhaustible quantities. Chrome, bi»- 

 muth, antimony, mangane**, cobalt, and many othem, ore known to exist, and 



