74 Report on the New York State Museum, 



of the State Museum of the State of ISTew York, and instead of 

 leaving these collections dormant for years, they should in some 

 ^^ay be made useful. 



The publications made as the result of the Geological Survey 

 and from the investigations made in the State Museum of 

 l^atural History in past time, have placed before the world a 

 nomenclature which has been generally adopted and incorpo- 

 rated into the scientific literature of all nations. It should be 

 considered a duty to science that collections of our rocks and fos- 

 sils be deposited in some, at least, of the principal government 

 histitutions of Europe, where reference could be had to the objects 

 themselves, as well as to the scientific literature and illustration 

 which has made the names of our geological formations and their 

 contained fossils accessible and understood. In this respect we 

 have not done our dut}^ as an enlightened people who have asked 

 the world to accept a geological nomenclature founded mainly 

 upon the rock formations of the State of l^ew York. 



