﻿XIV 
  INTRODUCTION. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  prosecution 
  of 
  this 
  work, 
  a 
  considerable 
  por- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  has 
  been 
  traversed, 
  with 
  a 
  view 
  of 
  

   gaining 
  such 
  general 
  knowledge 
  of 
  its 
  character 
  as 
  would 
  

   best 
  guide 
  and 
  direct 
  the 
  subsequent, 
  more 
  detailed, 
  and 
  

   minute 
  examination 
  to 
  be 
  made. 
  

  

  More 
  than 
  seven 
  thousand 
  three 
  hundred 
  miles 
  have 
  

   been 
  travelled, 
  collections 
  amounting 
  to 
  several 
  thousand 
  

   specimens 
  have 
  been 
  made, 
  and 
  the 
  character, 
  peculiari- 
  

   ties, 
  and 
  productions 
  of 
  the 
  different 
  sections 
  visited, 
  

   have 
  been 
  observed 
  and 
  noted. 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  doubtless 
  with 
  a 
  general 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  

   geological 
  features 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  that 
  the 
  Survey 
  was 
  

   authorized 
  by 
  the 
  Legislature. 
  

  

  Consisting 
  chiefly 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  recent 
  formations, 
  the 
  

   absence 
  of 
  the 
  primitive 
  and 
  metalliferous 
  rocks, 
  in 
  place, 
  

   gave 
  no 
  reason 
  to 
  expect 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  those 
  ores 
  and 
  

   minerals 
  which 
  belong 
  properly 
  to 
  an 
  earlier 
  period, 
  and 
  

   which 
  constitute 
  the 
  chief 
  resources 
  of 
  less 
  favored 
  and 
  

   fertile 
  districts 
  than 
  ours. 
  The 
  discovery 
  of 
  mines 
  of 
  

   copper, 
  lead, 
  or 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  precious 
  metals, 
  or, 
  even 
  of 
  

   the 
  true 
  coal-fields, 
  was 
  obviously 
  not 
  to 
  be 
  expected. 
  

   It 
  was, 
  therefore, 
  mainly 
  in 
  reference 
  to 
  its 
  influence 
  

   and 
  bearing 
  upon 
  the 
  agricultural 
  prosperity 
  of 
  the 
  

   State, 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  undertaken. 
  

  

  The 
  effects 
  produced 
  in 
  New 
  Jersey, 
  Virginia, 
  and 
  

   several 
  other 
  States, 
  in 
  the 
  restoration 
  of 
  exhausted 
  

   lands 
  to 
  their 
  primitive 
  fertility, 
  by 
  the 
  application 
  of 
  

   the 
  marls 
  or 
  mineral 
  manures 
  which 
  similar 
  surveys 
  

   have 
  brought 
  into 
  notice, 
  exerted 
  the 
  chief 
  influence 
  in 
  

   setting 
  on 
  foot 
  an 
  enterprise 
  for 
  developing 
  our 
  own 
  re- 
  

   sources 
  of 
  this 
  character, 
  which 
  were 
  suspected, 
  with 
  

   good 
  reason, 
  to 
  exist 
  in 
  the 
  great 
  tertiary 
  field 
  that 
  

   overspreads 
  the 
  State; 
  and 
  the 
  examination 
  which 
  has 
  

   so 
  far 
  been 
  made, 
  establishes 
  the 
  fact, 
  that 
  our 
  stores 
  of 
  

  

  