. . ON THE STATE CABINET. 27 



Alb AS Y, Aug^ist 20, ISQb. 



S. B. WOOLWORTH, LL. D., 



Secretary of the Board of Regents, etc, : 



Sir — In reply to a circular which I have had the honor to receive from 

 you, dated Albany, June 1, 1865, I beg leave to offer the following sug- 

 gestions : 



I understand the resolution and your inquiries to refer to plans for per- 

 fecting the State museum and for bringing it up to the condition required 

 ^ by the present advanced state of science, and making it a museum of sci- 

 entific and practical geology and comparative zoology. 



My views would be, that, looking to the results of the geological survey 

 of New York, the geological part of the museum should be made dominant, 

 as in this the State will derive more credit — assuming, the geological for- 

 mations of New York as a basis for arranging and parallelizing the; collec- 

 tions from all the formations of other parts of the country, and at the same 

 time giving to each one its appropriate place. This would also give to the 

 museum a distinctive character, and render it always a standard of refer- 

 ence and authority in geological science, while its development of the eco- 

 nomic applications of the mineral products of the State will be at once and 

 preeminently appreciated by the people. 



The State cabinet of natijral history was originally organized as the 

 result of the geological survey of the State, and the collections deposited 

 therein were derived from the investigations in that survey. 



In this museum there was arranged in the geological department, for the 

 first time in the history of American geology, a series of collections illus- 

 trating the order of sequence among the older formations. The plan of 

 arrangement was adopted according to the best personal and collective 

 knowledge ol^the four individuals to whom the geological survey had been 

 assigned. It embraced, , 



1. A geological collection, illustrating the sequence of the formations ; 



2. A geographical collection, illustrating their distribution ; 



3. A paleontological collection ; 



4. An economical collection. 



Of these* the first collection, embracing the series and showing the order 

 of the formations, was fully arranged and completed. The second, or geo- 

 graphical collection, was essentially completed, but of course to be in- 

 creased. The paleontological collection was scarcely begun, and the eco- , 

 nomical collection was not attempted, although a few specimens with that 

 object in view had been accumulated. 

 * Beyond this, a collection in mineralogy had been arranged to illustrate 

 the minerals of the State, and also one in zoology, with specimens in the 

 several departments of that science ; and also a botanical collection. 



Although much progress has been made in geological investigations since 

 that period, very little has been found to conflict with the arrangement 

 which was then adopted ; and in any reorganization of the museum, I con- 



