22 NINETEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF, THE REGENTS, 



-sess should,' of course, be made available by the director to the improve- 

 ment of the collection, and give it thus an increased scientific value, while 

 the director should himself give lectures'on the general questions of pale- 

 ontology and geology. The special assistants should, in their turn, de- 

 velop, each -in their department, the progress they have made in its appli- 

 cation to the department under their charge. A most thorough and com- 

 prehensive course in geology and paleontology could thus be instituted, 

 which would have, also, the adyantage of alluring special students to attend 

 any department they wish to follow, to the exclusion of the others. Let 

 anything which is done be made in connection with a well fixed plan, capa- 

 ble of the utmost expansion, so that as the means of instruction expand, 

 the working plan should expand naturally, and not cause any disturbance 

 of the usual routine of the establishment. These are the main features of 

 the organization of our museum at Cambridge, applied to a cabinet of prac- 

 tical geology and paleontology, which have, thus far, been found to wprk 

 admirably. I am, very respectfully, 



Your obedient servant, 



ALEX'R AGASSIZ. 

 S. B. WooLWORTH, Esq., Secretary of Regents of University of N. Y. * 

 P. S. To make the collection permanently useful in a scientific point of 

 view, and preserve forever intact the records of the specimens, too great 

 care and time cannot be expended in the preparation of the catalogue, which 

 should eventually be published, and may be expanded very naturally to 

 include any striking discovery made during the arrangement of the collec- 

 tions. 



Hon. S. B. WooLWORTH, Secretary of Board of Regents : 



Sir — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a circular from 

 your office, dated Jui^e 1, 1865, containing resolutions of the Senate and 

 Assembly of the State of New York, passed on the 24th of April last, 

 having reference to collections in geology, mineralogy, and other depart- 

 ments of natural history, and asking for suggestions of plains tending to 

 promote a knowledge of these sciences throughout the State. 



The suggestions I have to offer will be limited to the sciences of geology 

 and mineralogy, and to a plan which, if successfully carried into execution, 

 would place an authentic and valuable collection within the reach of aca- 

 demic classes throughout the State, at moderate expense, and under cir- 

 cumstances tending to enhance the interest due to the study of these sci- 

 ences. 



There are at present within the State somewhat over two hundred incor- 

 porated academies, the greater part owning academic edifices, and collec- 

 tions of books and apparatus permanently devoted to purposes of instruc- 

 tion. Many of these academies possess mineral cabinets, the chief value 

 of which will generally be found due to the enthusiasm and public spirit of 



