CHAPTER II. 



HISTORY OF THE PRESENT GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



T the June session of the legislature in 1868, the following statute 

 was enacted, as taken from Chapter III, Laws of 1868: 



AN ACT to provide for the geological and mineralogical survey of the state. 

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened: 



Section i. That the governor of this state, by and with the advice of the honorable 

 council, is hereby required and authorized, as soon as may be after the passage of this 

 act, to appoint a state geologist, who shall be a person of competent scientific and 

 practical knowledge of the sciences of geology and mineralogy ; and said state geolo- 

 gist shall have power to appoint such suitable person or persons as he may deem neces- 

 sary to aid him in carrying out the purposes of this act. 



Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of said state geologist, as soon as may be practicable 

 after his appointment, to commence and carry on, with as much expedition and dispatch 

 as may be consistent with minuteness and accuracy, a thorough geological and mine- 

 ralogical survey of this state, with a view to discover and examine all beds or deposits 

 of ore, coal, clay, marls, and such other mineral substances as may be useful or valua- 

 ble, and to perform such other duties as may be necessary to complete such survey. 



Sec. 3. It shall be the further duty of said state geologist to make a brief annual 

 report of his progress to the secretary of state, who shall submit the same to the legis- 

 lative, and shall forward from time to time such specimens of mineral substances as may 

 be proper and necessary to form a complete cabinet collection of specimens of the 

 geology and mineralogy of the state, as follows, viz. : One complete set to the secre- 

 tary of state, for preservation at the capitol of the state, which shall be so classified 

 and arranged as to be accessible to all interested in the mineral capacity of the state, 

 and one complete set to the museum of the agricultural college, to be used in the 

 instruction of the young men who may resort there for an agricultural education. 



