Association of A7nerican Geologists and Naturalists. 233 



of Dr. Hosack, and more especially of Dr. A. Bruce, of New- 

 York ; that of the Philosophical Society, and of Dr. Seybert, in 

 Philadelphia ; that of Prof. Frederick Hall, recently presented by 

 him to Dartmouth College, with a foundation for a professorship 

 of mineralogy and geology ; that of B. D. Perkins and of Col. 

 Gibbs, the latter a splendid collection, since purchased, as that of 

 B. D. Perkins had been before, by Yale College. Col. Gibbs 

 was a zealous promoter of geology as well as of mineralogy. 

 He freely gave time, influence, and money for these objects ; and 

 it was my fortune during the summers of 1807 and 1808, to ex- 

 plore with him the beautiful fields of Rhode Island. He was 

 fresh from the French school of mines of Paris, and fully im- 

 bued with the science of that fine national institution. 



It will be observed, that the period of which we are speaking 

 was contemporary with that of the formation of the Geological 

 Society of London. The impulse given in Europe had reached 

 America, and now geology began to be taught among the phys- 

 ical classics of our country, in most of the higher institutions of 

 learning. 



Individuals, either alone or associated, undertook geological ex- 

 plorations. Among the earlier were those of Prof. Cleaveland in 

 Maine, and his fine work on mineralogy, with an appendix on 

 geology, produced a powerful effect on the public mind. The 

 Messrs. Dana, brothers, in 1818 made a detailed and valuable re- 

 port on the mineralogy and geology of the vicinity of Boston, as 

 M. Godon had done less extensively in 1807 and 1808. Prof. 

 Denison Olmsted, under state authority, explored with signal 

 success the mountains of North Carolina. Prof. F. Hall made 

 early and valuable explorations in Vermont and the adjacent 

 states. In New York, Dr. A. Bruce, in 1809, had instituted a 

 journal of mineralogy and geology, and the connected arts, but the 

 decline of his health suspended the work after the completion of 

 the first volume, and the American Journal of Science and Arts, 

 on a more extended plan, succeeded in 1818 to the journal of 

 Dr. Bruce. Mr. Robert Gilmor, of Baltimore, formed a beautiful 

 cabinet of the rarer minerals and gems, in which taste, science, 

 and wealth, conspire to enrich the collection. 



Dr. H. H. Hayden published an interesting volume on diluvial 

 remains and diluvial action ; and Prof. Amos Eaton, under the 

 patronage and at the expense of the late Gen. Van. Rensselaer of 



Vol. xLiii, No. 2.— July-Sept. 1842. 30 



