gg GEOLOGY 
am very far from being satisfied with it; but my excuse for publishing so imperfect an at- 
tempt is, that few observers have occupied themselves with the ensemble of the geology of North 
America, and as a geological pioneer in the Rocky Mountains 1 have perhaps some right to present 
a rough sketch. From a pioneer nothing very perfect must he expected; the hard life, in which I 
have been tossed about for years, has taught me rather to use the rifle and the axe, than the pen 
and pencil ; and I ask the indulgence of my fellow geologists for an essay written and drawn under 
the canvass of a tent or by a camp-fire-, during the torrid heat of a Texas summer, or the extreme 
cold of a winter campaign in the Rocky Mountains. 
As rough as they are , my sketches have attracted considerable attention , especially in Ame- 
rica, and if their value may be estimated by the vivacity of the criticism they have called forth, 
they must be of some worth. The critics go so far however, that I cannot accept all the benefit 
I ought to receive from them, for, as the French say, «en veritd, je ne suis pas digne de votre 
coUre » . 
There is a sort of association in America composed of half a dozen geologists, who try to 
impose their opinions, unguibus et rostris, upon all who attempt to look at the rocks of the New 
World. The recognized leader of this association is Mr. James Hall of Albany, and the estimation 
in which he is held by the members, may be seen by a remark of one of them, who declared be- 
fore a Select Commitee of the Legislative Assembly of Canada, appointed to report on the Geolo- 
gical Survey of Upper and Lower Canada, «Mr. James Hall, whose opinion is law in American geo- 
logy, etc.» (Examination of T. S. Hunt, Knight of the legion of honor of France, chimist and mi- 
neralogist of the geological commission of Canada').) 
It is useless to say that I do not belong to this association, and also that I do not admit Hall’s 
opinions «as law in American geology »; inde irai. 
James D. Dana, the son-in-law of B. Silliman Sr., who since the retirement of the elder Sil- 
liman has the care of the geological part of the American Journal of Science and Arts , is one of Hall s 
disciples, and devotes its pages exclusively to the association, confining his remarks upon me to 
hostile criticisms, and never giving a word of my reports and observations. I give below the 
criticisms as they were published. 
*.»*»»»»»«*«■***** 
(Extract from the Sillitnaii's Journal of Science, second series, vol. XA It , N® 50. 
March, 1854, pag. 919 etc.. New Haven). 
Aotice of a Geological Map of the United States and the British Provinces of North America, with Explana- 
tory Text, Geological Sections and Plates of the Fossils which characterise the formations"), by J. Marcou. 
A geological map of the United States by a member of the Geological Society of Franco is likely 
to command attention both in this country and Europe; and it is therefore important to know how far 
it is a correct exposition of the present state of American Geological Science. Wo have therefore ex- 
amined the map of Mr. Marcou and the accompanying text with much interest, and with no less disappoint- 
") A Geological Map of the United Stales and the British Provinces of North America , with explanatory text . 
geological sections and plates of the fossils which characterize the formations. By Jules Marcou. Boston, Gould 
and Lincoln. 1853. 
1) See: Report of the Select Committee on the Geological Survey, page 61; Quebec, 1855. 
