2o8 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904. 



work tints inaugurated was interrupted in L825 by his call to the 

 professorship of mathematics and natural philosophy in Yale College, 

 hut was taken up again almost immediately by Dr. Elisha Mitchell 

 and, continued for two years longer (see p. 285). 



The mental breadth of Olmsted is shown in the fact that while occu- 

 pying this position at Yale he prepared in 1831 a two-volume work on 

 natural philosophy, a text-book on astronomy in 1839, and became 

 well known throughout the scientific world through his papers on 

 meteoric showers and the zodiacal light. 



Of his personal character it is written: 



His uniform kindness and courtesy of demeanor and patience in imparting instruc- 

 tion, the excellent moral influence which he always exerted, as well by his consistent 

 Christian example as by his personal counsels, the genuine friendliness of his disposi- 

 tion, and the unaffected interest which he always manifested in the welfare of his 

 pupils — especially the readiness and fidelity with which he encouraged and assisted 

 any who exhibited special fondness for the studies of his department — will not soon 

 lie forgotten by those who enjoyed the benefit of his instructions, and especially by 

 those who were admitted to his closer friendship. 



In this same 3'ear Edward Hitchcock published in the American 



Journal of Science a sketch of the geology, mineralogy, and scenery 



of the regions contiguous to the Connecticut River, the same being 



accompanied by a colored geological map embracing 



Hitchcock's Geology l ' i i -i • i 



of the Region an area some 30 miles broad bv 150 miles in length. 



Contiguous to the . . . . 



Connecticut River, the coloring and classification of the rocks were not 



1 823 



strictly Wernerian, as might have been expected, but 

 an attempt was made " to give every particular rock that position and 

 extent on the map which it actually occupies on the earth's surface." 

 The paper was devoted mainly to a discussion of the lithological nature 

 and geographic distribution of the various rocks, which were classed 

 as granite, gneiss, hornblende slate, mica slate, talcose slate, chlorite, 

 syenite, primitive green slate, argillite, limestone, verd-antique, old- 

 red sandstone, secondary greenstone, coal formation, and alluvion. 

 Incidentally he discussed their possible origin and relationship. 



The granite he described as occurring in beds, and regarded it as 

 primitive, along with the gneiss, mica slate, and the greenstone to 

 the west of New Haven, while that to the north and east was thought 

 to be secondary. The argillite was also regarded as primitive, on the 

 ground of its being highly inclined and destitute of organic remains. 

 The red-brown sandstone now known to be of Triassic age he con- 

 sidered as the old-red sandstone of Werner and Cleaveland, but dis- 

 cussed the possibility of a part of it, as at Chatham and Middletown, 

 belonging to the coal formation. 



He chronicled the rinding in this sandstone at Deerfield of petrifac- 

 tions belonging to the genus phytolite and to the species lignite, and 

 agreeing with the petrifactions found in theCatskill red sandstones by 

 Eaton and referred to "the tribe of Naked Vermes." Fossil bones of 



