REPORT OF THE STATE GEOLOGIST. 



To the Honorable the Board of Regents of the University of the State 

 of Neiu York : 



In accordance with the law of 1883, 1 herewith submit the following 

 report : 



My duties as State Geologist are chiefly the preparation of the work 

 on the Paleontology of the State, and it is rarely possible to find time 

 for any field-work beyond that necessary for the collection of fossils 

 for the volumes in hand. In regard to the progress of this work I beg 

 leave to communicate the following statement. 



The report for the State Geologist for 1884 gave a statement of the 

 progress made during that year upon the Palaeontology of the State, 

 based upon the condition of the entire work as was fully described in 

 the report made in 1883. It is, therefore, unnecessary to repeat these 

 statements in detail, but confine myself to a statement of the further 

 progress made in the volumes in immediate preparation. 



Since the first of March last year, volume V, Part I, Lamellibran- 

 chiata II, has been published and distributed; the greater portion of 

 the year having been devoted to the preparation of the manuscript and 

 proof-reading for that volume. This work, together with the volume 

 which preceded, Lamellibranchiata I, completed the publications of 

 the State of New York upon this class of fossils. The volume recently 

 issued contains 356 pages of letter-press and .50 lithographed plates 

 with interleaved explanations of the figures. Of the mechanical execu- 

 tion of the volume I may speak in the highest terms of commendation. 



I submit herewith a table of contents of the last published volume, 

 and a list of the genera and number of species under each one, together 

 with their range in the geological formations as shown in the two 

 volumes on the fossil Lamellibranchiata. These tables will show the 

 nature and scope of the work now presented to the public. 



The work on the corals and bryozoa has been progressing in the way 

 of making up and arranging the plates of drawings ; and the prelimi- 

 nary descriptions of nearly all the species have been prepared. The 

 lithographing of the plates is now in progress, and it is proposed to 

 finish and issue this volume, if possible, during the coming year. 



For the succeeding volume on the Crustacea, some additional draw- 

 ings have been made, and two new jDlates have been arranged. 



In addition to the strictly Museum work within the buildings devoted 

 to the collections, some important field-work has been undertaken by 

 Professor Smock with a view to the determination of the limits of the 

 older crystalline and the adjacent metamorphic rocks in the southern 

 part of the State. Such work is very much needed in order to complete 

 our knowledge of the limits of these formations; and has a direct bear- 



