GROWTH OF MINERALOGY 271 



specimens of all kinds be sent to it for examination and 

 determination. ' ' 



This marks apparently the beginning of the serious 

 study of the science of mineralogy in the United States. 

 From this time on, articles on mineralogical topics 

 appeared with increasing frequency in the Medical 

 Repository. Most of these were brief and were largely 

 concerned with the description of the general characters 

 and modes of occurrence of various minerals. Nothing 

 of much moment from the scientific point of view 

 appeared until many years later, but the growing inter- 

 est in things mineralogical was clearly manifest. An 

 important stimulus to this increasing knowledge and dis- 

 cussion was furnished by Col. George Gibbs who, about 

 the year 1808, brought to this country a large and notable 

 mineral collection. In the Medical Repository (vol. 11, 

 p. 213, 1808), is found a notice of this collection, a portion 

 of which is reproduced below: 



"Gibbs' grand Collection of Minerals. 



One of the most zealous cultivators of mineralogy in the 

 United States is Col. G. Gibbs of Ehode Island and his taste and 

 his fortune have concurred in making him the proprietor of the 

 most extensive and valuable assortment of minerals that prob- 

 ably exists in America. 



This rich collection consists of the cabinets possessed by the 

 late Mons. Gigot D'Orcy of Paris and the Count Gregoire de 

 Eozamonsky, a Russian nobleman, long resident in Switzerland. 

 To which the present proprietor has added a number, either 

 gathered by himself on the spot, or purchased in different parts 

 of Europe . . . The whole consists of about twenty thousand 

 specimens. A small part of this collection was opened to 

 amateurs at Rhode Island, the last summer, and the next, if 

 circumstances permit, the remainder will be exposed." 



In 1802 Benjamin Silliman was appointed professor of 

 chemistry and mineralogy in Yale College. After the 

 Gibbs Collection was brought to America he spent much 

 time with the owner in studying it and, as a result, Col. 

 Gibbs offered to place the collection on exhibition in New 

 Haven if suitable quarters would be furnished by the col- 

 lege. This was quickly accomplished and in 1810, 1811 

 and 1812 the collection was transferred to New Haven 



