j6 The American Geologist. February, 1905 
Nashville. Shortly afterward chemistry and natural history 
were added to his chair. He retained this position until his 
death. 
Dr. Troost soon began to make geological expeditions 
over the state of Tennessee, and in an address delivered be- 
fore the legislature on October 19, 1831, we find him already 
well informed regarding many of the state's natural re- 
sources. He was persuaded to communicate his findings to 
the legislature that steps might be taken for their further 
development. As a consequence, a geological survey was 
authorized and he was appointed geologist, mineralogist and 
assayer for the State on December 21, 1831. This position 
he held by biennial reappointment until it was abolished by 
the legislature February 4, 1850. His salary from the col- 
lege was $1,000 per year and from the State $250 for each 
of the first two years and thereafter $500 per year, but out 
-of the latter he paid .his traveling and other field expenses. 
Well might the Board of Trustees of the University of Nash- 
ville vote, as it did, to defray his funeral expenses, and well 
might the State of Tennessee resolve, as it has not yet done, 
to place a suitable stone over his unmarked resting place. 
Physically, Dr. Troost was short and thick-set with a dis- 
tinctly German, but pleasant and benevolent physiognomy. 
His dress was somewhat careless, and in his old age his 
hair was white. His manners were kindly and courteous and 
marked by unassuming simplicity. In his travels over the 
state he readily won the friendship and regard of all classes 
■of people with whom he came in contact. In his speech he 
retained enough of his native Dutch accent to render his 
foreign birth apparent. 
As a college professor, he seemed always provided with 
a storehouse of information and apt illustration and would 
present it in a way that could not fail to interest. He would 
sometimes start to examine on a subject and, on some casual 
suggestion, would branch ofif into a lecture instead that 
would be, as one of his students describes it, a perfect revela- 
tion. Many of his students regarded their contact with him 
as the most valuable experience of their lives. Though usu- 
ally afifable and benign, he could on occasion be blunt of 
■speech and with aroused ire administer stern rebuke. Es- 
