22 CLINTON'S 



history of Louisiana by Sioddard, the code of Martial Law by Macomb, 

 a treatise on the Orgnnizatiou of Artillery by Morton, several important 

 military memoirs by the president of that institution, and the system of 

 maritime defence adopted, and now visible in our harbour, may be con- 

 sidered as emanations from it. 



Such associations are productive of great individual and collective 

 benefit : they stimulate the mind to exertion, produce emulation, and 

 form habits of observing with accuracy and of reading with attention ,* 

 they elicit powers that would otherwise lie dormant, and collect know- 

 ledge that would otherwise be scattered. '* Science, like fire, is put in 

 motion by collision."* The communion of cultivated minds must always 

 have a benign influence on knowledge ; and the experience of a century 

 and a half bears testimony to this truth. 



The objects of the Liter-try aim Philosophical Society ef New- York 

 being coextensive with the principal branches of human knowledge, an 

 unbounded prospect of investigation lies before us. It would be an 

 herculean task, far transcending my powers and occupying too much 

 time, to point out those desiderata in scie nee v, hich ought to be sup- 

 plied ; and to indicate those improvements and refinements which ought 

 to be engrafted into our literature ; but it ia> not be unimportant, with 

 respectful deference, and in a very concise manner, to invite your atten- 

 tion to those objects of inquiry which refer to the peculiar situation of 

 this country which have been little attended to or entirely neglected ; 

 and which, on account of their peculiar importance, deserve and cemand 

 our notice. 



In the first place, the geology of our country is almost unknown, and 

 few attempts have been made to elucidate it. William Madura has, in- 

 deed, applied the wernerian system to the United States ; has undertaken 

 to divide the country into regions of primitive transition, fl&tz. and allu- 

 vial rocks ; and has, upon this plan, delineated those different formations 

 in a geological map of the United States. He has not noticed any vol- 

 canic formations ; probably from an opinion that none exist. 



Dr. Mitchill, in a report made to the Agricultural Society, has divided 

 the state into 



The granite country, 

 The schistic, 



The lime stone, f 



The sand stone, and 

 The alluvial ; 

 and has designated the different regions in which those divisions exist. 



Transactions of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester. 



