Report of Boaed of General Managebs. 77 



The exhibit in this department was instructive, impressive and com- 

 prehensive, and was supervised by Prof. F. J. H. Merrill, of Albany. 

 The space was marked by a magnificent obelisk, which stood in front 

 of the pavilion, illustrating by its polished specimens the rock formation 

 of the State from the older Laurentian system to the base of the coal 

 measure. Within the pavilion, which occupied a space of 1,891 feet, 

 were the specimens of all the rocks, minerals and soils of the State, 

 supplemented by the commercial products derived from them. Near 

 the center of the west gallery was the mineralogical collection of the 

 New York State museum, the product of years of patient collection 

 and research. 



In the northeast gallery was the relief map of the State of New 

 York. This map, probably the largest of its kind ever constructed in 

 the United States, was made for the Board of General Managers by 

 Ward's Natural Science Establishment of Boehester, N. Y., under the 

 direction of Henry L. Ward. 



There being no complete survey of the State it was necessary to 

 make numerous corrections to existing maps in regard to the location 

 of towns, etc., and to compile from multitudinous sources a table of 

 altitudes. Published lists, engineer's copies of existing or proposed 

 railroad and canal profiles, data collected by various cities and engineers 

 and surveyors all over the State were brought together, reduced to 

 mean tide level and became the basis from which the map was built. 

 All the maps and data bearing on the subject published by the United 

 States and State surveys and departments were utilized, and hundreds 

 of communications passed between the maker and surveyors and 

 engineers all over the State, in order to incorporate all the reliable 

 data possible. A vast amount of labor was expended in this part of 

 the work, but the result was highly satisfactory, as much more data 

 was obtained than was supposed to exist. The construction of the map 

 was begun July 15, 1892, and with the combined work of twenty-two 

 persons finished April 20, 1893. The extreme measurements of the 

 map are, from north to south, twenty-six feet two and three-fourths 

 inches, from east to west, thirty-five feet two and three-fourths inches. 

 The greatest relief, "Mount Marcy, is about ten and one-lialf inches. 



The amount of variation in the surface of the State displayed by the 

 map was a revelation to many persons. One may have crossed the 

 State in various directions and yet have a very poor idea of its topog- 

 rapby, because the ordinary routes of travel run, as a rule, through 



