242 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



the annual octavo reports which were published from 1837 to 

 1841. The final reports were published in quarto form, beginning 

 at the close of the field work in 1841, and 3,000 sets have been 

 distributed, comprising four volumes of geology, one of mineral- 

 ogy, two of botany, five of zoology, five of agriculture and eight 

 of palaeontology. 



The collections in the several departments were supposed to re- 

 quire a room of some magnitude, and it was thought that such 

 could be found in the third story of the old oapitol, by taking 

 away a partition and throwing into one, two rooms used by com- 

 mittees; but long before the completion of the survey it was evi- 

 dent that the collections would require much more space than the 

 capitol rooms would afford, and in 1840 Gov. Seward, in response 

 to a memorial urging < the importance of providing suitable rooms 

 or a separate building for the collections made during the sur- 

 vey/ recommended that the old State hall on the corner of State 

 and Lodge streets be used for that purpose. 



This old building was replaced in 1857 by a new one, Geological 

 and Agricultural hall, and the collections which at first were to 

 find place in two committee rooms, now occupy a large part of 

 the main floor and three entire floors above, besides storage ac- 

 commodations in the basement. 



These collections form a scientific museum of great interest and 

 value, and its publications are recognized among the works -of 

 standard authority in science. The geological survey of New 

 York has been comprehensive and extended, yet some portions of 

 the work are still incomplete; the northern part of the state has 

 been but partially studied, and its geologic structure is but im- 

 perfectly known. 



This museum, with its extensive and increasing collections and 

 publications, plays an important part in the educational system 

 of the state, since Ithe importance of this kind of education has 

 become so fully and generally recognized. 



Although neither coal nor mines of gold or silver have been 

 found within the state, it has been shown that New York pos- 

 sesses the most complete and unbroken series of the Palaeozoic 



