232 Prof. SilUman^s Address before the 



and a revised and extended account in 1817, which was pubhshed 

 in their Transactions for 1818, with a colored geological map. 



Mr. Mackire had personally examined almost every remarkable 

 geological field in Europe, and was therefore well qualified, ac- 

 cording to the standard of knowledge of that day, for the Her- 

 culean labor which he undertook. His geology of the United 

 States was also published separately at his own expense, in a 

 small unpretending volume, of which the motto might well have 

 been, multutn in parvo. It was however imperfect, especially 

 in the more recent formations, the dividing lines having then 

 been but very imperfectly drawn, between the alluvial and the 

 tertiary, between the tertiary and the newer secondary, and even 

 between the different members of the latter ; and, moreover, the 

 study of fossils and of fossil anatomy, having since that period 

 made great advances, it is not surprising that younger geologists, 

 in surveying in detail parts of Mr. Maclure's domain, should have 

 found some things to correct and much to supply. 



Still, William Maclure, (who was the William Smith of this 

 country,) performed an immense service for geology, and this, 

 with his munificent endowment of the Academy of Natural Sci- 

 ences of Philadelphia — in its library, its cabinet, and its noble 

 hall — and his liberal donations in many other ways, for the pro- 

 motion of useful knowledge, for the education and elevation of 

 the ignorant and the oppressed in various places and countries, 

 richly entitle him to the gratitude of mankind, and to the warm 

 eulogium pronounced upon him by Dr. Morton, the president of 

 this Association. 



William Maclure passed the latter years of his life in the city 

 of Mexico, to which he was attracted by its fine climate, and there 

 he died about two years ago, at the age of very nearly fourscore. 

 Mr. Maclure brought large collections of specimens of minerals 

 into the United States, but the earlier cabinets formed in this 

 country, or imported from abroad, had more reference to mineral- 

 ogy than to geology. They however excited attention, promoted 

 inquiry and observation, and gradually attracted geological col- 

 lections around them. 



Such were the cabinets of Harvard University, presented by 

 Dr. Lettsom and the French republic, and since splendidly en- 

 larged by Professor Webster ; the collection at Bowdoin College, 

 Maine, by Prof. Cleaveland ; that of Dr. Samuel L. Mitchill, and 



