10 Thirty-west Report on the State Museum. 



From the amount of work necessary to be done upon the fossils collected dur- 

 ing the year, in their preparation, determination, labeling and recording, before 

 incorporating them with the collections, they cannot now be included in the list of 

 additions herewith presented, except in a very general statement. I can only 

 say of them at the present time, that they are of great value and importance to the 

 Museum, and in their extent surpass the collections of many of the previous years. 



The following statement will, in some measure, indicate the nature of the 

 material and the quantity collected during the past year. 



Mr. C. D. Walcott with Mr. C. Vandeloo were occupied for a considerable 

 time in making Collections from the corniferous limestone of Western New York. 

 The results are as follows : From Caledonia, N. Y., four barrels and two boxes ; 

 from Leroy, ten barrels ; from Falkirk, three barrels. These collections are 

 chiefly of fossil corals which are in a good state of preservation. 



For the purpose of comparison with the New York forms, five barrels of corals 

 were collected from the limestone of the same horizon, in Southern In- 

 diana. At Pendleton, Ind., a sandstone at the base of the corniferous lime- 

 stone, bears a fauna which is characteristic of the Schoharie grit of New York; 

 and from this formation were obtained three barrels of specimens. Besides 

 these, an extensive collection was made from the Niagara group, at Waldron, 

 Ind., of about 7,000 pounds. This will be a very valuable addition to the 

 Museum, since the beds of corresponding age at Lockport, N. Y., are now 

 difficult of access. 



Dr. R. Fritz-Graertner has collected four boxes of minerals and fossils in the val- 

 ley of the Mohawk. The fossils are from the Calciferous sandstone, Birdseye and 

 Trenton limestones. From the Trenton limestone the fossils are chiefly minute 

 bryozoans, which will be an important addition to the Museum collections. The 

 minerals derived from the calciferous sandstone are quartz crystals in druses, 

 with rhombohedral forms of calcite and indurated bitumen ; pyrites and 

 sphalerite. The Trenton limestone furnished large specimens of galenite and 

 pyrites, the sphalerite and calcite coming together in veins. Several instructive 

 specimens of slickensides were likewise derived from the same locality. 



Dr. J. W. Hall has collected sixty-four boxes of fossils, which are nearly all 

 in a good state of preservation. The collections were made in the counties of 

 Albany, Schoharie, Otsego and Onondaga. They consist, principally, of fossil 

 corals, derived from the upper Helderberg limestone formation. Some new and 

 valuable collections were made from the goniatite limestone ; and a large col- 

 lection of Lamellibranchiata and other shells from the Hamilton group of Onon- 

 daga county. 



It would be quite impossible to enumerate in detail all the work done 

 in the Museum. In an s institution like this, open at all times to visitors, much 

 time of the assistants and often of the Director is occupied in answering ques- 

 tions or giving information. Specimens in every department of Natural History 

 are sent in with inquiries regarding their nature and value ; and the informa- 

 tion thus asked is always cheerfully given. It has been my earnest desire to 

 make the Museum not only a scientific organization in the true sense of the term, 

 but at the same time an educational institution of the higher order in all the 

 departments of science represented therein. The work is carried on not only 

 for present use and needs of the Museum, but with a view to the future, and it 

 is believed that the work done and the collections accumulated will be so arranged 

 and placed in such a condition, that they will be available and their value will 

 be appreciated in all the future working of the institution. 

 I am, very respectfully, 



Your obed't servant, JAMES HALL. 



