362 



SCIENCE. 



N. S. Vol. XI. No. 271. 



In 1861 Mr. Egleston returned to New 

 York city and was at one? chosen by the 

 Smithsonian Institution at Washington, to 

 take charge of the work of sorting and 

 arranging the specimens of minerals and 

 rocks which had accumulated as a result of 

 various exploring expeditions. To facilitate 

 the work and assist in the system of inter- 

 national exchanges then undertaken, he 

 prepared a check list of minerals with their 

 compositions, which was published by the 

 Institution. 



At this time the need for a school of 

 mines and metallurgy in this country was 

 beginning to be recognized. Schools of 

 civil engineering existed and schools of 

 science, but nothing especially devoted to 

 mining or metallurgy. Mining operations 

 were conducted by so called ' practical 

 miners,' with here and there a graduate of 

 a foreign school, and the waste and mis- 

 management were almost beyond belief. 



The nearest previous approach to the 

 formation of such a school is found in the 

 incorporation in ISTew York State, about 

 1859, of the 'American School of Mines' 

 with the avowed object of " The economic 

 and scientific development of the mineral 

 wealth of the United States, the determi- 

 nation of its economic values, instruction in 

 the art of practical mining and the analy- 

 sis and composition of mineral products." 

 This institution does not appear ever to 

 have reached a stage of active existence. 



Dr. Egleston prepared and published in 

 March, 1863, a ' Proposed Plan for a School 

 of Mines and Metallurgy in New York 

 City,' which was simple and practical and 

 founded undoubtedly upon the methods 

 pursued at the Ecole des Mines. In about 

 1500 words he stated the object of the 

 school, the proposed course of instruction, 

 and the estimated cost of establishment. 



The object stated was " To furnish to the 

 student the means of acquiring a thorough 

 scientific and practical knowledge of those 



branches of science which relate to mining 

 and the working up of the mineral re- 

 sources of this couutry, and to supply to 

 those engaged in mining and metallurg- 

 ical operations, persons competent to take 

 charge of new or old works and to conduct 

 them on thoroughly scientific principles." 

 A course of thi'ee years was outlined which 

 was closely adhered to for the first few years 

 of the school and then gradually modified. 

 The estimated cost of equipment was $17,- 

 300, of which over half was for collections. 



Dr. Egleston's idea appears to have been 

 to graft the school upon some existing in- 

 stitution, and fortunately he submitted the 

 plan to the Trustees of Columbia College, 

 who for four or five years had been consid- 

 ering the extension of the work of the 

 college by the establishment of graduate 

 schools, among others a ' practical school 

 of science.' The opportunity to make a 

 first step in this direction seemed to exist 

 in the plan of Dr. Egleston, for it was pro- 

 posed to pay all expenses of the school 

 from the fees, and while the organization 

 as planned required a larger outlay than 

 the financial condition of the college war- 

 ranted, the committee of the Trustees re- 

 ported that, " the nucleus of such a school 

 could be formed at inconsiderable cost to 

 the college and so as to be capable of ex- 

 pansion whenever the means of the college 

 shall permit." The Trustees, thereupon 

 set apart rooms in the college building for 

 mineralogical and geological collections, ap- 

 propriated $500, for fitting up cases and, 

 on February 1, 1864, appointed Thomas Eg- 

 leston, Jr., Professor of Mineralogy and Me- 

 tallurgy without salary. 



Although no money was appropriated 

 with which to buy collections of minerals 

 or rocks, the small collection of the college 

 was placed at the disposal of the new school, 

 and Dr. Egleston obtained gifts from Mr. 

 George T. Strong and the Hon. Gouver- 

 neur Kemble, with which two private col- 



