SKETCH OF GERARD T ROOST. 261 



ley, twenty-six years ; and next in length of service comes Prof. 

 Troost, from February 9, 1828, to August 14, 1850, twenty-two 

 years and a half. 



In 1831 he was appointed State Geologist of Tennessee, an office 

 which he held till it was abolished in 1839. The record of his 

 work in this department is preserved in his reports. The first 

 and second reports were not published. The third report, made 

 in 1835, contains the results of the geologist's investigations re- 

 specting the extent of the coal formations in the State. " I have 

 ascertained," it says, " that the places in which coal may be ex- 

 pected belong exclusively and entirely to that group of moun- 

 tains which are known by the name of Cumberland Mountains, 

 and are composed of Walden's Ridge, Crab Orchard Mountain, 

 Brimstone Mountain, and some other subordinate ridges of the 

 same system/' The breadth of the formation was greatest near 

 the northern limit of the State, and in one part the coal was rep- 

 resented as deposited in horizontal strata of great extent. The 

 report also deals largely with marl, iron, and soils, and concludes 

 with the words : " In a scientific point of view my labors have 

 been very advantageous. I have been very fortunate in obtain- 

 ing organic remains which were unknown, and which eventually 

 will show how far our strata correspond with those on the old 

 continent. I have discovered parts of the American or gigantic 

 mastodon hitherto unknown." 



The fourth report,, of 1837, relates to the Ocoee district, com- 

 prising a part of the mountain region near the North Carolina 

 boundary, which Prof. Troost was directed by the State Legisla- 

 ture to explore. It begins with an exposition of the principles of 

 geology and their application to the general structure of the dis- 

 trict under view, for the information of the people ; an admirable 

 specimen of exact scientific writing adapted to popular compre- 

 hension, explicit, lucid in style, and showing familiarity with the 

 subject. The character of the region is depicted in a few words : 

 " Commencing our reconnaissance at the most northern extremity 

 of the district, I found the rocks at Tallassee, on the Tennessee 

 River, entirely composed of grauwacke, alternating here and 

 there with limestone ; this is the case everywhere along the Ten- 

 nessee River, where I was able to approach and examine them, to 

 the Smoky Mountain, which forms the southeastern limit of the 

 district, and separates Tennessee from North Carolina. It is 

 almost impossible to penetrate any distance in this wild and 

 mountainous country ; and the apparent confusion of the rocks, 

 which seem at some places heaped up without order, and chang- 

 ing at small distances, makes the geological survey hazardous 

 and extremely difficult." The author calls attention to the roof- 

 ing slates of East Tennessee, and dwells upon the value of slates 



