trict; Professor Ebenezer Emmons, of Williams College, was assigned to the Second District; Mr. T. A. Conrad, of Philadelphia, was assigned to the Third District; and Mr. Lardner Vanuxen, of Bristol, Pennsylvania, to the Fourth District.[1]
The mineralogical department was assigned to Dr. Lewis C. Beck, a native of Albany, but at that time a Professor in Rutgers College, New Jersey. Dr. John Torrey, of New York city, was commissioned as State Botanist, and Dr. James E. De Kay, of Long Island, as State Zoölogist.
The assistants in the geological department commissioned by the Governor were, Caleb Briggs in the First Geological District, James Hall in the Second, George W. Boyd in the Third, and James Eights in the Fourth District.
The instructions given to these officers were essentially the same as recommended in the report of the Secretary of State. Each of the geologists was required to collect, in his own district, eight suites of rock specimens, but no conditions of this kind were imposed upon the mineralogist, botanist, or zoölogist. A special draughtsman was appointed for the zoölogical department and also for the botanical department. The geologists were each allowed a small sum ($300) annually to pay for drawings of sections, maps, etc., which might be required for the illustration of their reports.
This, in brief, was the organization of the Geological Survey at its commencement. At the end of the first year, it became evident to the geologists that the relations of the rock formations, the age and order of superposition, among the then unknown, or very imperfectly understood, stratified deposits, could only be determined on paleontological evidence. They therefore unanimously recommended to the Governor that some competent person be appointed to devote himself to that department. To this position Mr. Conrad was assigned, thus leaving a vacancy in the Third Geological District, which, after a reorganization of its boundaries, as before explained, was assigned to the charge of Mr. Vanuxem, and Mr. Hall was appointed to the Fourth District.
As had been suggested in the report of the Secretary of State, the scientific staff assembled each year, and sometimes twice a year, in spring and in autumn, at the Capitol, to compare notes and observations, to agree upon methods of work, and to receive suggestions from the Governor. These meetings became more important and even essential to the geologists, since they soon found themselves dealing
- ↑ It will be seen that neither of the principal geologists was a native or resident of the State of New York, though Lieutenant Mather had previously been instructor in the Natural Sciences in the Military Academy at West Point. Nor should it be forgotten that no inquiry was ever made regarding the political opinions of these gentlemen, and it proved that, of the seven principals of departments thus appointed, six were in political opposition to Governor Marcy.
