Eeport of the State Geologist. 25 



worth, Secretary of State, -undertook to re-establish the work 

 upon a proper basis, and the author was induced, by an appeal to 

 his patriotism, to take it again in charge. To do this he declined 

 a position which would have insured him security of place and a, 

 life of quiet investigation in geological science. Under the new 

 arrangement, for the first time in the history of the work, means 

 were provided for the collection of fossils to illustrate the volumes 

 still to be published. Because of these collections the work was 

 necessarily much extended, and Yolume Y, originally planned as 

 a single volume, including text and plates, has been expanded to 

 four volumes. Volumes YI and YII and all subsequent work 

 have profited by the collection of fossils made from 1856 to 1865 

 inclusive, when appropriations for such collections ceased. 



This final volume (YIII, Part 11, Brachiopoda), after being held 

 back for one year through want of an appropriation, was printed 

 to page 317 in the autumn of 1893. At that point the printing was 

 again suspended. In order to have a record of the date of the 

 completed work there was issued, in July, ISO'^, a fascicle con- 

 taining the text, from page 1 to 176; embracing descriptions of 

 the spire-bearing genera; and a second fascicle in December, 

 1893, carrying the text to page 317, including descriptions of the 

 rhynchonelloids, pentameroids and terebratuloids. At that time 

 the concluding chapter or summary was in type, but the appro- 

 priation having been exhausted the printer was compelled to sus- 



the entire expense of collecting the fossils and the study and description of the same, together with 

 the labor of superintending the drawings and engraving, was in fact entirely inadequate to pay 

 for the collection of the fossils necessary for a single volume, and left, besides this, more than four 

 years of labor to be performed by the Palaeontologist without any remuneration whatever. Under 

 these circumstances the work could not go on, and It became by this act virtually suspended in the 

 early part of 1S50. 



" From the commencement of the work the expenses of making the collections had been borne by 

 myself. These collections, made up to that time, not only embraced most of those of the first and 

 second volumes, but the greater part of the third volume, as well as extensive collections in the 

 higher rocks of the New York series for the succeeding volume. Besides these I had made large col- 

 lections of fossils in the same series of strata in the West, for the.purpose of comparison with the 

 New York species. In this waj', as well as in examinations of the rock formations in situ over a large 

 part of the Western States, for the purpose of determining the parallelism of the formations, I had 

 already made great pecuniarj^ sacrifices in carrying on the work. Under these circumstances, there- 

 fore, and with the new aspect presented by the law of 1850, and the action of the Commission relative 

 thereto, I could no longer devote myself to its prosecution, and consequently made other arrange- 

 ments for the occupation of my time, which, however, left me still some opportunity to continue 

 my investigations in this work. As the contracts between the State and the engravers continued in 

 force, the engraving, after 1851, was carried on somewhat slowly ; my frequent and protracted 

 absence rendering it impossible for me to give that personal attention to it which a work of this kind 

 so fully demands. In order to prevent its entire cessation I employed a person as an assistant (who 

 afterward became my draughtsman) ; the lithographer volunteering to contribute to pay a portion 

 of the expense of such assistant, that his own work might not cease entirely. In this way the work 

 ■was continued till 1S55, no compensation whatever being paid to the author during this period." 



4 



