F. W. Sinionds — Life of Dr. Ferdinand von Roenier. 413 



next year (1845) his first contribution to the Neues Jahrbuch fur 

 Mineralogie, Geohgie, und Palaeontologie appeared, and thereafter 

 for more than forty years his name was familiar to the readers of 

 that journal. 



He now (1845) entered upon that part of his career which is of 

 the greatest interest to Americans, especially Texans. With means 

 provided in part by the " Berliner Akademie der Wissenschaften," 

 and with the warm personal endorsement of the celebrated traveller 

 and explorer, Alexander von Humboldt, he imdertook a journey to 

 America for the purpose of studying its geology and palaeontology, 

 in the course of which he spent a year and a half in the then little 

 known state of Texas. Here, to judge from the results of his 

 investigations, his activity must have been very great, for, in 

 addition to contributions furnished to the American Journal of Science 

 and Arts in 1846 and 1849 (ser. ii, vols, i and vi) and a more 

 popular work entitled " Texas. Mit besonderer Eiicksicht auf deutsche 

 Auswanderung und die physischen Verhaltnisse des Landes," 

 published at Bonn in 1849, he gave to the world in 1852 " Die 

 Kreidebildungen von Texas und ihre Einschliisse. Mit einem die 

 Beschreibung von Versteinerungen aus palaozoischen und tertiaren 

 Schichten enthaltenden Anhange und mit ii von C. Hohe nach der 

 Natur auf Stein gezeichneten Tafeln," printed also at Bonn, by 

 Adolph Marcus. It was this work that won for him the title 

 " Father of the Geology of Texas." That Eoemer should have been 

 able to accomplish so much during his brief sojourn in the state 

 is remarkable considering the limited means of transportation and 

 the serious danger from wandering bands of Indians when con- 

 ducting scientific work outside of the immediate vicinity of the 

 settlements. Under such circumstances, that his results should have 

 been so accurate is little short of phenomenal. 



Before proceeding farther it may be well to direct attention to 

 some of the salient points brought out by these early investigations. 

 " Die Kreidebildungen " is not entirely devoted to the Cretaceous 

 or Chalk formation of Texas, for, in addition to a detailed con- 

 sideration of that formation and its fossils, the introduction treats 

 of such topics as the following : " Geographic Position and General 

 Orographic Character of Texas," in which the greater topographic 

 features of the state, with the exception of the western mountains, 

 are clearly described ; " General Geognostic Constitution of the 

 Land " ; " Diluvial and Alluvial Formation " ; " Tertiary Forma- 

 tions " ; " Older or Palaeozoic Strata " ; and " Plutonic Rocks." 

 The Appendix, moreover, contains descriptions of fossils from the 

 Palseozoic strata and descriptions of fossil woods by Professor Unger. 

 In view of the above outline it scarcely need be said that this work 

 has been a fruitful source of inspiration to all who have made 

 a special study of the topographical and geological features of this 

 region. That it, as well as the earlier descriptive volume, should 

 not have been translated into English long ago, is somewhat i-emark- 

 able. Concerning the geological map in the earlier volume, based 

 upon Wilson's geographical map, it is fair to say that the general 



