174 E. A. SMITH PIONEERS IN GULF COASTAL PLAIN GEOLOGY 



Between 1840 and 1874 there were no official investigations of the 

 geology of Georgia, though numerous valuable contributions thereto were 

 made, notably by Conrad, Lyell, Couper, Marcou, Jackson, Stephenson, 

 and Bradley. 



In 1874 the Survey was revived, with an annual appropriation of 

 $10,000 for five years, and Dr. George Little was appointed State Geolo- 

 gist. Under Doctor Little two annual Eeports of Progress were made, 

 and a paper of 126 pages was published on the Geology, Water Powers, 

 etc., of the state in the Handbook of Georgia, issued by the State Agri- 

 cultural Department. A catalogue of the ores, rocks, and woods selected 

 for the Paris Exposition was also published. This Survey was discon- 

 tinued in 1879 and reorganized in 1889, with Dr. J. W. Spencer as 

 director. Doctor Spencer published two reports, and was succeeded in 

 1893 by Prof. W. S. Yeates, who continued in office until his death, in 

 1908. His successor. Prof. S. W. McCallie, is the present incumbent. 

 Under the direction of Professor Yeates and Professor McCallie a num- 

 ber of valuable reports have been published, mainly of economic character. 



FLORIDA 



The fascination of the "Land of Flowers" has drawn to its shores ex- 

 plorers and travelers from the earliest times. Witness the travels of 

 Catesby, in 1731 ; of Bartram, 1807 ; of John Lee Williams, who has given 

 one of the best descriptions of this region in his volumes published in 

 1827 and 1837, respectively. It has drawn also a host of scientific men, 

 such as Lieut. J. H. Allen, 1846 ; Prof. J. W. Bailey, 1850 ; T. A. Conrad, 

 1834 and 1846; Michael Tuomey, 1850; Joseph Le Conte, 1857; all of 

 whom have contributed valuable notes concerning the geology of the 

 state as noted below. 



ISTotwithstanding these early records to the contrary, the geological 

 maps prior to 1880 concede to Florida only the more recent formations. 



In my Florida Cotton Culture Eeport of the Tenth Census, above men- 

 tioned, it is shown that the peninsula is underlain for the greater part 

 of its length by the equivalent of the Vicksburg limestone, over which 

 there are in many places discontinuous deposits which at that time were 

 classified as Miocene (since in part called Upper Oligocene). This was 

 hailed as an important discovery, although Eocene shells had been ob- 

 served and described from the vicinity of Tampa Bay by Lieutenant 

 Allen, Professor Tuomey, Mr. Conrad, and possibly others; and Mr. 

 Conrad had in 1842 already expressed his opinion that this Upper Eocene 

 limestone, as he defined it in Georgia, would be found to underlie the 

 peninsula. Our observations in 1880 furnished proof of the correctness 



