36 [Assembly, No. 115.] 



public structures and in private building, and the urgent necessity 

 laid upon architects and builders to select such materials as will 

 most effectually resist decay and decomposition, and be most perma- 

 nent and unchangeable in appearance and structure. The unsightly 

 aspect in case of many of our public buildings, and the inferior 

 quality of much of the stone now in use, show the great need of 

 more care in the selection of stone ; and to this end there is the 

 necessity for the education of the people, in the general facts about 

 stone, and the localities where quarries now are worked, as also, the 

 information of a more particular nature as to occurence, constitution, 

 structure, and chemical changes, incident to certain varieties and 

 peculiar to localities. It is this specialized matter which is sought 

 after, and which is to be given to the people in the forthcoming 

 survey report on the building stone of the State. 



The collections made during the autumn past are representative 

 ol localities visited, and, when arranged, they will form an interest- 

 ing exhibit in the department of economic geology. They number 

 about two hundred carefully selected cabinet specimens. 



