Geology and Mineralogy 645 



material to the small museums scattered throughout the coun- 

 try. In many a school and in many a community, the collec- 

 tions of minerals and rocks presented by the Smithsonian 

 Institution, authentically labeled so as to serve as a standard, 

 have stimulated the pursuit of the studies which those col- 

 lections illustrate. Though no data are available for an 

 estimate of the amount of influence which these donations 

 to local museums have exerted, there can be no doubt that 

 it has been very considerable. 



IV. LECTURES 



IN the early years of the Institution, free public lectures on 

 scientific subjects were given in its hall and under its aus- 

 pices, especially during the sessions of Congress. The Re- 

 port for 1849 mentioned a course on "Geology," given by 

 Edward Hitchcock, President of Amherst College. In 1851 

 the elder Silliman, of Yale College, delivered two lectures on 

 "Geology," and a year later he gave a course of twelve lec- 

 tures on the same subject. During the winter of i856-'57 

 Joseph LeConte, then of Georgia, delivered three lectures on 

 " Coal " and also three on " Coral." James D. Dana, of Yale 

 College, lectured on " Coral Islands " during the winter of 

 i858-'59. During the following winter T. Sterry Hunt, then of 

 the Geological Survey of Canada, delivered five lectures with 

 titles as follows : " On Chemical and Physical Geology"; " In- 

 troduction of Geological Agencies "; " Chemistry of the Earth's 

 Crust"; " Life in Its Geological Relations"; " Geology of the 

 Metals, Mineral Springs, Metamorphism " ; and " Igneous 

 Rocks, Volcanoes, Mountain Chains." In 1862 Fairman 

 Rogers, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, gave three lectures on 

 " Glaciers." This was followed in 1863 by a course of three 

 lectures on "The Glacial Period," by Louis Agassiz, of Harvard 



