Obituary of Prof. Z Thompson. 



45 



work which should embrace the General History of Vermont, 

 both natural and civil. From 1838 to 1842 he devoted the 

 greater part of his time to preparing and publishing his "Nat- 

 ural, Civil and Statistical History of Vermont," 



The prosecution of this purpose necessarily brought him into 

 contact or correspondence with the naturalists of the country. 

 In completing his account of the birds of Vermont, he was 

 greatly assisted by Dr. Thomas M. Brewer, of Boston ; and in de- 

 termining several species of reptiles and fishes, he was aided by 

 Dr. D. H. Storer, also of Boston. For a full description of our 

 molluscous animals, he was indebted to Prof. Charles B. Adams, 

 then of Middlebury College, and to Prof. George W. Benedict^ 

 then of the University of Vermont. For his catalogue of plants, 

 he was indebted to the late William Oakes, of Ipswich, Mass., 

 to Prof. Joseph Torrey, William F. Macrae, John Carey, and 

 others. With these aids in his arduous labors, Prof. Thomp- 

 son succeeded in embracing in his work everything of special 

 importance relative to the Natural and Civil History of Ver- 

 mont ; and published it in so condensed and cheap a form as to 

 place it within the reach of every family in the State, having 

 but little regard to a pecuniary recompense from the sale of a 

 book which had cost him so much travel, research, time and ex- 

 pense in its preparation. 



Prof. Thompson found time also to prepare annual astronomi- 

 cal calculations for the Messrs. Waltons of Montpelier, and to 

 publish a valuable arithmetic and elementary work on the Geol- 

 ogy and Geography of Vermont, for the use of schools, both 

 written in the systematic, lucid and condensed manner which im- 

 parted so much value to all of his publications. 



In 1845, Governor Slade appointed Prof. Charles B. Adams 

 State Geologist, and, with the approbation of the Governor, the 

 latter made Prof. Thompson one of his assistants in the field la- 

 bor. In connection with the Kev. S. K. Hall, the other assist- 

 ant, he visited and explored, "more or less thoroughly," about 

 110 townships in one season. Prof. Thompson was actively 

 engaged in this important scientific labor until the Legislature of 

 Vermont neglected to make an appropriation for a final report on 

 the geology of our State, and thus permitted the materials, man- 

 uscripts, books, and specimens belonging to the survey to remain 

 at Montpelier and Burlington, locked up in about fifty boxes. 

 The brief and expressive report of Prof. Thompson addressed to 

 Gov. Coolidge, in October, 1849, was published in the Appendix 

 of the House Journal for that year and is a sad commentary on 

 the folly of which our State has been guilty in regard to the 

 matter of a geological survey. After the suspension of the geo- 

 logical survey, Dr. Horace Eaton, Governor of the State in 1847, 

 appointed Prof. Thompson to carry out the resolution of the 



