James Hall, LL. D. — Hovey. 141 
and whatever aid may have been had from assistants, its real 
author is the man whose varied and remarkable labors are now 
recounted. 
A most exemplary feature of Prof. Hall's public services 
does not seem to have been sufficiently remarked even by his 
eulogists, and that is his zeal in helping practical men to 
develop the resources of their commonwealth. He did not 
forget, amid his enthusiasm for fossils and gems and maps, the 
needs of the miner, the quarryman, the potter, the brick-maker, 
the dealer in salt, cement, petroleum, and other materials con- 
tributing to the wealth of the State. Could the facts be ob- 
tained we should discover that the public had been thus repaid 
many times over for all that the survey ever cost. To persons 
of an economical turn of mind the sumptuous quartos that 
have followed each other in long array, at a total cost of at least 
a million and a half of dollars, have been ornamental rather 
than useful; and it is notorious that in every Legislature there 
are those who are prejudiced against such expenditures, and 
in many instances even governors have publicly taken credit to 
themselves for their opposition to what they deem scientific 
extravagance. And yet when one considers the utility of the 
discoveries made during, the life of one such servant of the 
public as Dr. Hall the wisdom of the required outlay is un- 
questionable. Criticism is misdirected that blames the zealous 
geologist who pulled every string of influence necessary in 
order to accomplish so noble an end, who good-humoredly and 
persistently stuck to his purpose till it was gained, and who 
.•;acrificed personal comfort, needed rest, and more than once 
his individual resources, rather than relinquish the privilege 
of discovering and making known the natural resources of the 
Empire State. In this respect he perhaps had no equal. 
Prof. J. J. Stevenson has called attention to certain unwrit- 
ten chapters that prove Dr. Hall's remarkable fidelity to the 
interests of the Commonwealth and unselfish devotion to his 
work. And during his lifetime the latter assured his friends 
that these statements were correct. It seems that, in 1845. the 
geologists had to give up their rooms in the old State hall. 
Prof. Hall proceeded immediately to erect an edifice near his 
own residence for the purpose of carrying on his work, and 
still another larger l)uilding in 1856. at his own expense, and 
