700 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 98. 



known wherever the language of science is 

 spoken, who is honored in his State, revered 

 in his friendly circle, and esteemed in far 

 countries — ^he is the founder of stratigraphic 

 geology and applied paleontology in Amer- 

 ica, James Hall. W J McGee. 

 Bureau of American Ethnology. 



professor james hall and the geological 

 survey of the fourth district of 



NEW YORK — 1837-1843. 



" Having been appointed by the late Gov- 

 ernor, the Hon. William L. Marcy, to in- 

 vestigate the geology of the Fourth District, 

 * * * my duties in that region commenced 

 in the spring of 1837." 



In making this statement, in the preface 

 of his final report upon the Fourth District 

 of New York, Prof. Hall does not men- 

 tion any connection with the Geological Sur- 

 vey of the State during the season of 1836. 

 Under the law governing the Survey as then 

 constituted, the four chief geologists were 

 each allowed an assistant, and Mr. Hall had 

 served during the previous year in the Adi- 

 rondack region of the Second District as 

 the assistant of Dr. Ebenezer Emmons. 

 Strangely enough, there is, I believe, no 

 reference in Dr. Emmons's reports to Mr. 

 Hall's cooperation with him in this ca- 

 pacity, although the other chief geologists 

 rendered public acknowledgement to such 

 assistants and Emmons himself was pro- 

 fuse in his expressions toward others who 

 had been associated with him. 



Eeference is made to these facts simply 

 to show that Professor Hall's activity dur- 

 ing his first season of official life, sixty 

 years ago, is virtually unrecorded. 



This circumstance, however, was not, I 

 am convinced, in any way, directly or indi- 

 rectly, the occasion of his promotion in the 

 following year to the position of Chief Geolo- 

 gist. 



The original apportionment of the four 

 geological districts as made in 1836, had 



Fig. 1. Geological Districts of New York. 1836. 



not proved satisfactory to the geologists. 

 The central- western extension of the State 

 had been divided as nearly as possible in 

 half by an east and west line which main- 

 tained the integrity of the county bound- 

 aries. This division was unquestionably 

 due to the influence of Prof. Amos Eaton, 

 of the Rensselaer School at Troy ; for Prof. 

 Eaton himself, aside from the power he 

 wielded in the creation of the Survey, had 

 already reconnoitered this unexplored region 



Fig. 2. Geological Districts of New York. 1837. 



in his geological survey of the country ad- 

 joining the Erie Canal, had demonstrated the 

 latitudinal outcrops and easy succession of 

 the formations, and in pursuance of his sug- 

 gestions the line of division was so drawn 



