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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The James Hall Memorial Tablet 



It has seemed appropriate to some of the late Prof. James Hall's 

 active associates on the Geological Survey of this State to com- 

 memorate the beginning of his important work by the erection 

 of an appropriate if modest memorial. Professor Hall, on the or- 

 ganization of the Geological Survey in 1836, was designated as 

 assistant to Dr Ebenezer Emmons in the latter's survey of the 

 second or northern district of the State. The following year how- 

 ever he was appointed geologist in charge of the fourth or western 

 district. Here he laid the foundation not alone of his later achieve- 

 ments but of the classification of a large part of the Xew York series 

 of geological formations. His final report on the fourth district 

 issued in 1843 has from that date been a compendium and standard 

 exposition of the geology of western New York and on this foun- 

 dation was reared the superstructure of his still greater accomp- 

 lishments in the paleontology of New York. It was from the 

 rocky gorge of the Genesee river that the geologist was best able to 

 decipher the succession of the rock strata and on one of these rock 

 cliffs close to the Genesee river amid the very picturesque surround- 

 ings of Glen Iris, a bronze tablet commemorative of these facts has 

 been erected with the approval of the State's trustees of Letch- 

 worth Park. The American Scenic and Historic Preservation 

 Society. 



Ill 



REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 

 The work of the State Botanist the past year has been chiefly a 

 continuation of the work of the preceding year. It has consisted 

 of the collection and preparation of specimens of plants for the 

 herbarium, the preparation of descriptions of such as do not ap- 

 pear to have been described, and in some cases the preparation of 

 colored illustrations of them, the testing of the edible qualities of 

 promising species and the identification of specimens of plants 

 brought or sent to the office by correspondents and others who have 

 desired information concerning them. A constant outlook has 

 been kept for indications of the chestnut disease that has recently 

 attacked chestnut trees with destructive consequence in the parks of 

 New York city and Brooklyn and their vicinity. A special trip of 

 investigation was made to Dutchess county, which had been reported 

 as the most northern limit known of its occurrence. No indica- 

 tion of the disease was found there, nor in the counties of Albany, 



