238 Prof. Sillimaii's Address before the 



Percival, having recently finished his report on the scientific ge- 

 ology of that state, it awaits only the necessary appropriation 

 from the legislature to insure its publication.* 



Mr. James C. Booth's report on the geology of Delaware, has 

 appeared since our last meeting. The reports of Mr. Feather- 

 stonhaugh on Arkansaw, and of Dr. Locke and Mr. Owen on Iowa, 

 were mentioned by Mr. Hitchcock last year. The report on 

 Iowa, which included Wisconsin and the lead mineral region, 

 was published without illustrations, and we understand that a re- 

 pubhcation by the government of the United States, with that 

 important addition, is expected. The geological survey of both 

 Pennsylvania and New York being finished, we may expect an 

 elaborate report from each of those great states ; and from New 

 York, an account also of all the other departments of natural 

 history. Mr. Yanuxem several years ago made a report on South 

 Carolina, through the public prints. The only states and terri- 

 tories therefore in which, or regarding which, there has been no 

 decisive movement in relation to geological surveys, are Alabama, 

 Mississippi, Florida, Illinois, and Vermont ; in the latter state, 

 however, the survey was defeated by only two votes, and we 

 may therefore expect a speedy revival of the enterprise. 



In Louisiana, a geological reconnaissance has been recently 

 made by Prof. Carpenter, under the authority of the legislature, 

 and among those states in which only this step (that of a recon- 

 naissance^ has been taken, should be mentioned Kentucky and 

 Missouri. 



COMPARISON WITH EUROPEAN GEOLOGY. 



In comparing our geology with that of Europe, we find the 

 scientific table of geological formations regularly filled, with the 

 following exceptions. 



Within the United States proper, there are no volcanoes, either 

 dormant or active. The numerous volcanic vents on the western 

 side of both North and South America and the contiguous islands, 

 and those in California, Mexico, Central America, and the West 

 Indies, relieve the eastern or Atlantic sides from the necessity of 

 providing such safety valves for the internal fire, which finds a 

 ready exit along the coasts of the Pacific and among the West 



* This appropriation has been since made, and the work is now (July, 1842) in 

 the press. 



