242 Ford — Growth of Mineralogy, 1818 to 1918. 



began. : The mineralogist was no longer content with 

 approximate descriptions of minerals, but strove rather 

 to separate the essential facts from those that were acci- 

 dental, to discover definite laws, and to learn the rela- 

 tions between the physical and chemical characters of a 

 mineral. The use of mathematics gave a new aspect to 

 crystallography, and the development of the optical 

 relationships opened a magnificent field of wonderful 

 phenomena which can be described as a garden gay with 

 flowers of light, charming in themselves and interesting 

 in their relations to the forces which guide and govern the 

 regular structure of matter. ' ' 



In the Medical Repository (vol. 2, p. 114, New York, 

 1799), there occurs the following notice : "Since the pub- 

 lication of the last number of the Repository an Associa- 

 tion has been formed in the city of New York 'for the 

 investigation of the Mineral and Fossil bodies which com- 

 pose the fabric of the Globe; and, more especially, for 

 the Natural and Chemical History of the Minerals and 

 Fossils of the United States,' by the name and style 

 of The American Mineralogical Society.' ' With this 

 announcement is given an advertisement in which the 

 society "earnestly solicits the citizens of the United 

 States to communicate to them, on all mineralogical sub- 

 jects, but especially on the following: 1, concerning 

 stones suitable for gun flints ; 2, concerning native brim- 

 stone or sulphur ; 3, concerning salt-petre ; 4, concerning 

 mines and ores of lead." Further the society asks "that 

 specimens of all kinds be sent to it for examination and 

 determination. ' ' 



This marks apparently the beginning of the serious 

 study of the science of mineralogy in the United States. 

 From this time on, articles on mineralogical topics 

 appeared with increasing frequency in the Medical 

 Repository. Most of these were brief and were largely 

 concerned with the description of the general characters 

 and modes of occurrence of various minerals. Nothing 

 of much moment from the scientific point of view 

 appeared until many years later, but the growing inter- 

 est in things mineralogical was clearly manifest. An 

 important stimulus to this increasing knowledge and dis- 

 cussion was furnished by Col. George Gibbs who, about 

 the year 1808, brought to this country a large and notable 

 mineral collection. In the Medical Repository (vol. 11, 



