Charles Schuchert — Historical Geology, 1818-1918. 53 



official geological surveys, and by kind words and acts 

 stimulated, fostered, and held together American scien- 

 tific men for fifty years. Of him it has been truly said 

 that he was "the guardian of American science from its 

 childhood. ' ' 



The American Academy in Boston. — The second oldest 

 scientific society, but the first one to publish on geological 

 subjects, was the American Academy of Arts and 

 Sciences of Boston, instituted and publishing since 1780. 

 Up to the time of the founding of this Journal, there had 

 appeared in the publications of the American Academy 

 about a dozen papers of a geologic character, none of 

 which need to be mentioned here excepting one by S. L. 

 and J. F. Dana, entitled * ' Outlines of the Mineralogy and 

 Geology of Boston,' ' published in 1818. This is an early 

 and important step in the elucidation of one of the most 

 intricate geologic areas, and is further noteworthy for its 

 geologic map, the third one to appear, the older ones 

 being by Maclure and Hitchcock (Merrill). 



Early Geology in Philadelphia. — The oldest scientific 

 society is the American Philosophical Society of Phila- 

 delphia, started by the many-sided Benjamin Franklin in 

 1769, and which has published since 1771. Up to the time 

 of the founding of the Journal in 1818, there had 

 appeared in the publications of this society thirteen 

 papers of a geologic nature, nearly all small building 

 stones in the rising geologic story of North America. 

 The only fundamental ones were Maclure 's Observations 

 of 1809 and 1817. Later, in this same city, there was 

 organized another scientific society that came to be for 

 a long time the most active one in America. This was 

 the Academy of Natural Sciences, started in 1812 with 

 seven members, but it was not until 1817 and the election 

 of "William Maclure as its first president that the work 

 of the Academy was of a far-reaching character. Here 

 was built up not only a society for the advancement of the 

 natural sciences and publications for the dissemination 

 of suclr knowledge, but, what is equally important, the 

 first large library and general museum. 



William Maclure (1763-1840), correctly named by Sil- 

 liman the "father of American geology," was born and 

 educated in Scotland, and died near Mexico City. A 

 merchant of London until 1796, when he had already 

 amassed "a considerable fortune," he made a first short 



