Appendix. — Geological Specimens and Surveys. 205 



I hope the government of the state will authorize that gentleman to 

 continue his researches, until every desideratum in our geology shall 

 be accomplished. The plan which I have now to suggest, is to 

 furnish a complete collection of the mineralogical, geological, bo- 

 tanical, and zoological specimens of the United States, for the capi- 

 tal of each of the individual states, and one for the general govern- 

 ment at Washington. Some, of my friends have smiled at this pro- 

 ject, and have evidently considered it Quixotic. Your sanction, 

 however, is to me a sufficient proof of its feasibility. 



We all know how easy it is for individuals to form collections by 

 exchange of duplicate specimens, and why cannot the state govern- 

 ments, with their ample means, do as much by similar operations ? 

 A student of any department of natural history knows, that if he is 

 in possession of duplicates of thirty or forty rare species, he can com- 

 mand the scientific resources of the world wherever his pursuits are 

 followed, and can form an universal collection by a system of judi- 

 cious exchanges. This system is exactly what I now propose to 

 recommend to the state governments. We may calculate with cer- 

 tainty, that at least twelve of the United States will be surveyed 

 within ten years from the present time, and perhaps many more will 

 enter upon the work within that time. If then the plan which I now 

 propose be kept in view, it is evident that nothing can be easier than 

 to effect it in a satisfactory manner. 



Let every surveyor be authorized and required, to furnish at least 

 fifteen specimens of every object of natural history which comes un- 

 der his observation, and falls within his department. When these 

 specimens are numbered and arranged with a descriptive catalogue, 

 let them be carefully packed in separate cases, marked, and num- 

 bered, so that complete sets may be disposed of without the trouble 

 of again unpacking and assorting them. 



The collections arranged in this manner should then be sent to 

 to the state depository, and a distinctive mark should be placed on 

 those which are to be reserved for the use of the state surveyed. 

 The most perfect suite should, of course, belong to the state cabi- 

 net. The other collections may then be disposed of by exchang- 

 ing them with the other states, and the collections received in return 

 will form a complete cabinet of the various natural productions of 

 the states with which the exchanges are made. Both parties will 

 be gainers by the transaction, and the expense will be comparatively 

 trifling, it being only, for the little additional trouble, in collecting 



