1870. | Columbia College. 503 
eastern wing of the School of Mines building, and consists of 
four collections, all of which, however, have an intimate connec- 
tion with each other. The first and most interesting of these is 
the geological and paleontological collection, which will be the 
subject of our present sketch. This is supplemented (firstly) by a 
lithological collection consisting of three thousand specimens of 
rocks and the minerals which compose rocks ; (secondly) by a col- 
lection in economic geology, containing nine thousand specimens 
of coal, ores, marbles, fertilizers, etc., illustrating the mineral 
wealth of our country, and containing also suites of ores and 
associated rocks from many of the most important mines in foreign 
lands; (thirdly) as an aid to the study of the fossil remains of 
animals and plants, which constitute the most attractive branch 
of geological knowledge, a zodlogical and botanical collection has 
been added, composed of well-selected specimens which in some 
peculiar manner serve to explain the fossil forms. This collection 
in some departments, as in that of fishes, contains many remark- ° 
able and interesting and valuable specimens. 
The portion of the museum to which we wish to introduce the 
reader is the first we have mentioned, that of geology and palaon- 
tology. This collection occupies the wall and table cases on the 
eastern side of the hall; many large specimens, however, as the 
skeleton of the Irish elk, a cast of the Megatherium, etc., are 
arranged in various parts of the museum. 
The cases, commencing at the northern end of the hall and 
extending throughout its entire length, present the geological 
records from the earliest dawn of life on our planet down to the 
last chapter in its history—the introduction of man. 
These sibyl’s pages, gathered from the ends of the earth, pre- 
sent an epitome of the world’s ancient history written by the 
unprejudiced hand of nature. These fragments of stone with the 
curious forms of animals and plants engraved upon them, are to 
the geologist—the interpreter of the earth’s history—what the 
hieroglyphics of Egypt or the picture-writings of Mexico are to 
the archeologist—the translator of human history. 
Before we enter into an examination of the remains of animals 
and plants which once lived upon the earth, but are now extinct, 
we should clearly understand that fossils are the records which 
these ancient organisms have left of their existence. In some 
instances, as with the Irish elk and the moa of New Zealand, - 
