PREFACE. | Xi 
prove a source of as much pleasure and profit to our people as the facts that have 
been gathered in regard to the mineral resources of the State. In the geological sur- 
veys which have been organized by the most enlightened communities of our own 
and other countries, the fossils found have uniformly been the subjects of careful 
study and profuse illustration. This has not been the result of a vain craving for 
notoriety on the part of the paleontologists, but has been a response tasa demand 
created by an interest in such subjects which pervades every cultivated population. 
That such an interest. exists among our own people is shown by the avidity with 
“which our paleontological reports have been sought, and by the value attached to 
them by those who possess them. 
In the plan proposed for the Final Report of the Geological Suvey, in addition to 
the reports on Geology and Paleontology, it was suggested that there should be one 
volume devoted to Economic Geology, and another to Zoology, Botany, and Agricul- 
ture. Of these volumes, the first was intended to include an exhaustive and accurate 
review of all our mineral staples—coal, iron, peat, clay, salt, oil, building material, 
etc.—both as regards their geology and technology. A large amount of labor has 
been expended in the preparation of this volume, and it may be said to be more than 
half done. But the investigations of which this report was to embody the results 
had not been finished when, in February, 1874, the appropriations for the field and 
ottice work of the Survey were exhausted. An attempt has been made in the prepara- 
tion of this volume to determine the quality, uses, and best methods of manufacture 
of our mineral staples, not only by means of the ordinary chemical analyses, but: by 
carefully gathering the results of all the trials to which they have been subjected in 
real life, and by original experiments made with an amount of material and under 
such conditions as would afford a practical and ‘‘ working” test of each. For the 
completion of this volume six months’ time and an expenditure of $4,000 to $5,000 
would be necessary. | 
The volume on Zodlogy and Botany has been nearly completed, and at a very small 
expense to the State. The Botanical report was prepared by Dr. C. H. Beardsley, of 
Painesville, who has given a large part of two seasons to it, with no other compensa- 
tion than his expenses. 
Dr. J. M. Wheaton, of Columbus, has charged himself with the preparation of the 
report on Birds. This is nearly or quite ready for publication, and is very full and 
accurate. In the execution of his work Dr. Wheaton has received no other compen- 
sation than the payment of his expenses in visiting the museums at Washington, 
Philadelphia, and other eastern cities, where he had an opportunity of comparing his 
material with al) that collected in other portions of our country. 
