272 The American Naturalist [April, 



of Desmorest, who, in 1768, traced the origin of basalt to the 

 crater of volcanoes. 



In 1807 the Geological Society of London was established 

 with the professed object of encouraging the collection of data 

 and the making of observations. In 1819 the Society pub- 

 lished a map of England by the aid of Greenough. About 

 the same time Buch prepared a similar map of a large part of 

 Germany. A geological survey of France was ordered in 1822 

 by the French government, and as a result a geological map 

 was published in 1841. Conybeare and Phillips published a 

 treatise on the " Geology of England and Wales," in 1821. In 

 181-1 Aiken published his work on mineralogy, which had a 

 large circulation at home and in this country. Previous to 

 this Sowerby published a work on " British Mineralogy, illus- 

 trated with colored plates," but the date of which I do not 

 know. The publication of the Geological Map of England, in 

 1815, by Smith, may be said to form an epoch in the history 

 of geology. 



In 1809 Maclure published an article on " Observations on 

 the Geology of the U. S., explanatory of a Geological Map," 

 and he is rightly called the father of American geology. He 

 visited all parts of the Union and all the principleming ni dis- 

 tricts of Europe. In 1817 he presented a report to the " Phil- 

 osophical Society of Philadelphia " of his work, and accom- 

 panied it with a colored map. In 1816 and 1817 he visited 

 the Antilles and published a paper on their geology. In 1810 

 Bruce, of New York, published the first purely scientific jour- 

 nal supported by original American contributions. His jour- 

 nal was devoted principally to mineralogy and geology. 

 Science was also promoted by the collections in the colleges 

 and societies, and by those made by scientific men. In 1816 

 Cleveland published a treatise on mineralogy. In 1818 Dana 

 published a detailed report on the mineralogy and geology of 

 Boston and vicinity. In the same year the American Journal 

 of Science was first published. The first geological survey 

 made by State authority was that of North Carolina in 1824. 



In 1830 the Principles of Geology, by Lyell, appeared and 

 has most powerfully influenced the direction of scientific 



