190 Geological Reports. 



ventured out of our usual and more appropriate sphere, had we not 

 been long stationed among the watchmen upon the walls of American 

 science, and we are therefore the more unwilling that its merits should 

 be lightly appreciated — unwilling that gentlemen of high character 

 should be left solely or chiefly to motives of patriotism, of benevo- 

 lence, or of the love of knowledge, for inducements to engage in its 

 more arduous enterprises. 



This country is redundant with wealth, increasing beyond calcu- 

 lation ; and to this hour, the men who are its pioneers, as regards 

 some of its highest interests, are left with a recompense wholly dis- 

 proportioned to their talents, their acquirements, their duties, and 

 their responsibility. No men in our country are so inadequately re- 

 munerated, except those who have still higher claims — the teachers 

 of religion. On both subjects, the State of New York is well enti- 

 tled to the honor of leading in a more liberal and righteous career. 



III. Report on the Geological Survey of Ohio, signed by Dr. S. 

 P. HiLDRETH, Chairman — his associates being Mr. Riddell, Mr. 

 Lapham, and Dr. Locke, pp. 187, with diagrams. Columbus, 

 Ohio, 1836. 



This report is the result of a reconnaissance of the State of Ohio, 

 under the direction of Dr. Hildreth, whose eminent qualifications for 

 the discharge of this duty have been often made apparent in the pages 

 of this Journal. The prevailing argument with popular legislators, 

 namely, that of utility, in the sense of pecuniary advantage, is fully 

 sustained in this preliminary report. Immense quantities of coal, of 

 iron ore, of limestone, of gypsum, clay, sandstone, marl, and salt are 

 found in Ohio, and in situations exceedingly accessible and favorable 

 for transportation. All this has been abundantly proved by Dr. Hil- 

 dreth in previous volumes of this Journal ; but it was necessary to 

 review the subject and to exhibit it in a lucid and popular- form to 

 the legislature and the public. This has been ably done in the report 

 now under consideration, and we cannot doubt that the legislature of 

 Ohio will provide, on a liberal scale, for the expense of the survey, 

 which, however, we must presume, will exceed the estimate of 

 ^12,000. It is however easier to obtain additional funds to finish 

 such an undertaking, than it is to obtain an appropriation to begin ; 

 and it is not to be presumed that the local government will permit this 

 most important enterprise to fail, or to remain in an unfinished stale, 

 especially in the hands of gentlemen of competent knowledge, talent 

 and zeal. 



