BULLETIN OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 



Vol. 10, pp. 83-98 FEBRUARY 26, 1899 



OUR SOCIETY 



ANNUAL ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT, J. J. STEVENSON 



{Read before the Society December 28, 1898) 

 CONTENTS 



, ■ Page 



Early investigations. 83 



The Association of American Geologists 85 



The American Association for the Advancement of Science 86 



Development of geological work after the Civil war 87 



The Geological Society of America 88 



Relation of geological work to the public welfare 91 



Economic results of official survey 94 



Early Investigations 



Several travelers of the eighteenth century, among them, especially, 

 Guettard, Alexander, and Schoepf, gave more or less important infor- 

 mation respecting the geological structure and mineral resources of our 

 country; but geological work, properly so called, began only with Mac- 

 lure's studies in 1806. Born in Scotland, Maclure came to this countr}' 

 in early youth, and, embarking in business, acquired a fortune long be- 

 fore reaching middle age. He returned to Europe to spend several years 

 in the study of natural science, but came again to America in 1806 to 

 take up his geological work, which continued until 1808. 



The publication of his results, presented to the American Philosoph- 

 ical Society on January 20, 1809, led others to make studies, and soon 

 afterwards there appeared numerous papers dealing with geological sub- 

 jects. Professor Samuel L. Mitchell, a devoted follower of Werner, in- 

 fused much of his enthusiasm into a group of youthful students in New 

 York and induced Professor Archibald Bruce to establish the American 

 Journal of Mineralogy, which, beginning in 1810, reached its fourth and 

 last number in February, 1814. Though small and short-lived, this jour- 

 nal served a useful purpose : it contained good papers by Ackerly, Gibbs, 



XIII— Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., Vol. 10, 1898 (83) 



