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REPORT

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OF THE

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.

By EUGENE W. HILGARD, State Geologist.

JACKSON:

MISSLSSIPPIAN STEAM POWER PRESS PRINT.

1858.

REPORT:

To /Zw Excellency, William McWillie, Governor of Missisippi :

SIR : — The law makes it the duty of the Geologist of this
State, to lay before the Governor, annually, a report concern-
ing the progress of the Geological Survey during the pre-
ceding year.

The meaning and intent of this law, has been variously
construed, it having been thought by some that the annual
report is intended to embrace not merely the general statement
of the work done and results obtained, but also a descrip-
tion, more or less detailed, of the phenomena observed. The
latter plan has been carried out in the report made by the
late State Geologist, and is not without precedent in other
States. It is obvious, however, that reports of this charac-
ter can be practically useful only where, as in mineral dis-
tricts, the detail constitutes in itself, a useful and even neces-
sary guide in rendering productive, resources immediately
available. Thus, the partial but detailed reports of the
Geological Surveys of Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee,
have been eminently useful in developing the mineral re-
sources of those States.

In view of these facts, it is frequently asked why it is that
the reports heretofore published in connexion with the Geo-
logical Survey of this State, have done so little towards de-
veloping new resources ; and that, while enumerating a large
number of facts, they are of so little use as practical guides
in the utilization of those resources, few in number, which
have been discovered. In consequence of this failure to ful-
fill the expectations raised by the brilliant results of the

978

Geological Surveys of other States, it is frequently urged,
and has been promulgated even in the legislative halls, that
if this failure is not merely the consequence of incompetency
on the part of those charged with the execution of the work,
it "is of no use to have a Geological Survey of Mississippi ;*
and whereas, it had been satisfactorily shown that no min-
erals were to be found in the State, the survey had better be
abandoned at once, to save expense.

It is my object, in submitting to you this brief report, to
deal with these objections, and to explain to the people at
large, what I have had the honor of discussing with you
personally, viz : the true causes of the defects and short-
comings complained of; and moreover, to suggest the reme-
dies which are plainly indicated, not only by the considera-
tion of the nature of the case, but also by experience in this, and
precedents of other States. Having but recently entered
upon the discharge of the duties of my office, and having
been greatly impeded in my progress in the field, by
the want of proper equipments, I should have but few facts
entirely new to communicate ; and since even these would
not be readily appreciated without entering into a lenghthy
discussion of previous observations, I shall not for the pres-
ent dwell upon them. Having, however, been previously
connected with the same work for sixteen months, and no
progress having been made during the interval, I may per-
haps speak with some confidence of its condition and its
wants ; to which it is the chief object of this communica-
tion to call attention.

The Geological features of Mississippi are such as to ex-
clude, according to the accumulative evidence of all other
countries, all chances of finding within the limits of the
State any natural deposits of metalic minerals, with the ex-
ception of iron ore. The latter, although widely diffused
over the State, has nowhere been found in quantities suffi-
cient to justify the erection of furnaces ; not, at least, so long
as they shall have to enter into competition with those of
adjoining States, where in some cases inexhaustible beds of

ore of first quality occur immediately contiguous to the coal
which is required to smelt them. Lead ore has been fre-
quently found, it is true, but always in isolated lumps, obvi-
ously transported to the spot by hitman agency, and no more
indicative of a mine underground, than an Indian arrow-
head ploughed up in a cornfield, is of a deposit of flint be-
neath the soil. As for the gold and silver mines discovered
broadcast in especially the north-eastern counties of the
State, they all resolve themselves either into mines of the ore
of copperas, or into intentional frauds. Any one at all fa-
miliar with geology and mineralogy, will no more look for
metallic mines in the formations of Mississippi, than a whaler
would hunt for whales in the river whose name it shares.
Experience has in both cases, equally demonstrated the vani-
ty of such expectations.

That " Mississippi is entirely an agricultural State " has
been so often said, as to be almost a truism. It would, nev-
ertheless, seem to require further demonstration, with not
a few — the same who imagine that all the meaning and ob-
ject of a Geological Survey is the discovery of mines. Its
most important bearing, that an agriculture and the arts im-
mediately connected with it, is not very generally appreciated ;
and still less is the fact, that the benefits which may be ex-
pected to accrue to those all-important branches of industry,
through the agency of a work of this kind, cannot, for the
greater part, be realized until it shall have been carried on,
if not to completion, at least to a very advanced stage of
progress.

It is not a difficult matter to recognize a metallic ore ; to
determine its value, and the most successful mode of work-
ing a mine, is sometimes the work of a few minutes. But it
is not so with soils, the ores from which the agriculturalist
extracts his precious materials ; or with natural manures,
which may serve to sustain the fertility of his soil. While
the useful minerals are comparatively few and simple, soils
are infinitely varied, and their action on vegetation exceed-

6

ingly complex. The most experienced eye is unable to judge
with certainty of a quality of a soil or marl, or the adapted-
ness of the one to improve the other, by the eye, or any super-
ficial examination alone. Nothing short of a complete and
careful chemical analysis, and extensive comparisons of the
results with others, and with previous experience, can give
them that practical value and full reliability as guides to
the practical man, which in the present state of science he
does, and has a right to expect. Investigations of this kind
are not a matter of an hour or a day ; they require time,
extreme care, and the best means of research — not only in
the laboratory, but quite as much in the field.

To the minds of those not specially acquainted with the
subject, the absolute necessity of extreme accuracy, care and
conscientiousness in the execution — especially of the agri-
cultural part of the work — may perhaps be best illustrated by
reference to the well known fact, that some of the most im-
portant ingredients of soils, the withdrawal of which renders
them absolutely sterile, are generally present in them in such
minute quantities, that a careless analyst might overlook
them altogether. And no less may he utterly fail in detect-
ing the characteristic differences between various kinds of
soil, by committing an error which in many other cases
where chemistry is applied to practice, would be totally in-
significant. An analysis of soil, carelessly made, is useless?
and worse than useless. And even a correct analysis may be
useless, unless all the natural conditions influencing the soil
analyzed, in its place of occurrence, have been correctly ob-
served in the field. And what is true of soils, is equally
so in its application to marls, which are intended to improve
the soil ; if incorrectly chosen, they may do the very con-
trary.

Again : in a level country, where the underground strata
rarely appears on the surface, while their character is ex-
tremely variable, it is not an easy matter to ascertain cor-
rectly their geological features, which are of the greatest
importance with reference to the digging or boring of wells.

7

Here also, great care and minuteness of observation is ne-
cessary.

It is therefore obvious, that in the case of Mississippi at
least, a hasty and superficial geological and agricultural sur-
vey can do no good. And it is equally obvious, that if it is
worth while to make such a survey at all, it must be worth
while to have it done well.

That it is worth while, even the results heretofore obtain-
ed may be claimed to have satisfactorily shown. The green
sand and marl beds of the north-east and middle portions o!
the State, the extensive deposits of lignite and of valuable
clays, and the numerous mineral springs which have been
shown to exist, will in themselves compare favorably with
results of geological surveys of other States. . Under the
natural conditions obtaining in Mississippi, the especial im-
portance of the natural manures just mentioned can scarce-
ly be overrated, when we consider what the discovery of
similar deposits has done towards the promotion of agricul-
tural interests in some of the Atlantic States. Our beds of
lignite or brown coal, cover a larger area perhaps, than any
similar deposit heretofore discovered ; and although not
equal in value to good bituminous coal, the time is not far
distant when these deposits will prove highly important to
many portions of the State. In numerous localities the coal
deposit is so near the surface as to require scarcely any oth-
er than quarrying operations, in order to obtain a fuel which
in some districts of Europe is almost exclusively used for
domestic and industrial purposes. And even where the bed
is less accessible, its enormous thickness will render the ex-
traction of the material profitable. There is not, perhaps, a
State in the Union that can vie with Mississippi in the num-
ber and quality of its mineral springs ; and the importance
to the people at large, of having these sources of health made
generally available by a thorough examination, is manifest.
On the other hand, there are regions where the water of or-
dinary wells is positively injurious to health. The examina-
tion of these waters, and determination of possible remedies

8

for the evil, will not be among the least important results of
the survey. It will likewise make generally known the ex-
istence and localities of occurrence of useful materials, such
as stones for useful or ornamental purposes ; of clays, adapt-
ed to almost all the various uses of that important material ;
of limestones not inferior to those of which the imported
lime is made : and it will give reliable information as to the
quality and best mode of working these and other useful
materials. And among the lesser advantages, it will save
thousands of industrious individuals the trouble of looking
for things which they cannot expect to find, while informing
them as to what they may reasonably look for.

But it has been suggested more than once, that, granting
the intrinsic value and importance of a geological and agrr
cultural survey, it- has been satisfactorily shown that the
chief resources it is likely to develop in this State, will be
of little use to the present generation ; — that lands are not
yet exhausted, and any one may move to a "fresh place" if
he chooses. That as for the lignite, there is plenty of wood
to last a lifetime, and more too ; and such being the case?
that they had rather not go to the expense of having a sur-
vey made yet awhile.

It is not likely that a policy so short-sighted, narrow-mind-
ed and suicidal, should gain ground in an enlightened com-
munity, and in the nineteenth century. As for those who
hold and profess such views, their departure for a "fresh
place" will scarcely be felt as a loss to the community they
desert, and to which they refuse to make themselves perm?.-
mently useful. Having too common ground whereon to
meet such objectors, I shall confine myself to meeting the
objections of those who, while willing to do something for
the benefit even of posterity, still imagine that there is no
need of accellerating the survey ; and would prefer its in-
definite prolongation to the exertion of supplying at once
means adequate to insure its speedy completion.

In the first place, it is not a matter of indifference whether

9

we have to reclaim an exhausted soil, or simply to maintain
fertility by a judicious management of its powers. As be-
tween the maintenance and reclamation of soils, the latter
frequently requires more than three times the labor and ex-
pense, and always involve much loss of time. Some soils,
once exhausted, become irreclaimable by any reasonable
amount of labor.

Let any one travel through the less fertile districts of our
State, and mark the tale told by the numerous deserted
homesteads and waste fields, overgrown with blackberries
and "broom sedge.'7 He will scarcely escape the conviction
that even with us it is not too soon to take measures pre-
ventive of an evil which almost laid waste whole districts
of Virginia, once the centre of tobacco culture ; — which,
have been and are now being reclaimed by the aid of marls
precisely similar to those so abundantly found in our own
state. Had those marls been known earlier, Virginia would
never have experienced the decline of population and pros-
perity which at one time created such apprehensions, and
resulted in the loss, by emigration, of thousands of energetic
and enterprising citizens.

I might also call attention to the fact that the results of
the survey will serve as a guide to purchasers of land, since
it will inform them, not only of its momentary condition and
character, but also of the prospect of permanency of fertili-
ty, and the means of improvement. Had the survey been
called into existence earlier, it might have saved some money
to those unfortunate speculators who, allured by the prairie-
like levelness of the Tippah, Pontotoc and Chickasaw "flat-
woods," invested their capital in a kind of stock which to
their amazement, has remained utterly unproductive.

It would be easy to adduce many more cases where the
results of the survey are immediately available ; while the
ultimate importance is too manifest to be questioned. But,
taking it for granted that a sound policy in national econo-
my bids us develop all the resources of a State at the ear-
liest period possible ; that a geological and agricultural sur-

10

vey is essential to the development of those resources ; and
that when made, it is necessary that it should be well done
to be of use ; then it remains to be considered whether,
taking into account the area of the State, the provision at
present existing for the execution of this work, is adequate,
and proportioned to the amount of labor to be performed ;
and whether its failure hitherto to realize the expectations
entertained, may not to a great extent be traced to an in-
adequacy in this respect.

It is my conviction that this failure would to some extent
have occurred, under existing circumstances, even if the sur-
vey had been in competent and efficient hands all the while.
And I may add, that this disappointment is very likely to
continue, unless some further provision is made, more ade-
quately commensurate with the magnitude of the work.

The original Act, worded so as to embrace in the geologi-
cal and agricultural survey, botany and zoology, (or in other
words, providing for a complete natural history of the State,
almost in the terms of the Act providing for the survey of
the State of New York.) made the Principal State Geolo-
gist, a Professor of Zoology at the University of Mississip-
pi. He was to spend four months of the year in the field,
himself, while his Assistant was to be engaged in the field
survey continually, as far as the seasons permitted. And to
carry into effect the provisions of this Act, an appropriation
of $3,000 per annum, was made.

This arrangement was faulty in principle, inasmuch as
during the first years especially, it is indispensible that the
Principal should chiefly be in the field himself ; and it failed
in practice, the Principal being unable to extricate himself
from his accumulative University duties. Besides, the sub-
jects to be embraced in the survey according to the original
plan, were too numerous by far, to be successfully prosecuted
simultaneously with means so limited. Hence we find, in the
interesting and ably written volume forming the First Re-
port, by Prof. B. L. C. Wailes, geology occupying a subordi-
nate position, comparatively, among the subjects treated of.

11

Up to the accession to office of the late State Geologist,
in 1854, no analysis had been made in connexion with the
survey, (simply because there was no one to make them,,) and
the data concerning the general geology of the State, were
but very fragmentary.

During the years 1854-55, the arrangement just spoken
of, continu- d in force. In January 1856, however, the Board
of Trustees passed a resolution relieving the State Geologist
of any duties as a teacher in the University, in order that
he might devote his whole time to the prosecution of the sur
vey. Up to October 1855, Mr. Harper was without a field
assistant, except for a very short period j after that date,
and until removed by the Board, in October 1856, 1 myself
held the office of Assisstant ; and from that time forward,
until March 1857, (when the Act dissolving the connexion
thus far existing between the survey and the University went
into operation,) the duties of the office of State Geologist
devolved upon me by order of the Board of Trustees.
From the expiration of my term of office until I was ap-
pointed by yourself in March last, the operations of the sur-
vey were suspended ; since the time during which Mr. Har-
per held the office after his re-appointment by Gov. McRae,
it was occupied by him in the publication of his Report, at
New York. By the law detaching the survey from the Uni-
versity, the office of Assistant Geologist was abolished ; all
the duties thenceforth devolving on the Principal alone.

In reviewing the results heretofore elicited by the survey
— prosecuted so far, under circumstances so unfavorable — it
cannot but be a matter of regret, that with the exception of
my own field notes, all the original records heretofore made?
and used by the late State Geologist in the compilation of
his Report, (both his own and those of his predecessors,) have
disappeared.

It is too well known to require discussion, that however
small may be the qualifications of the observer, the records
of observations, written down on the spot, is always of value-
while in any case whatever, the preservation of this kind of

12

records is of the utmost importance, so long as any investi-
gations connected with the subject are in progress. Nor can
any report or theoretical discussion, however complete, re-
place the original record in this respect.

Concerning the report of the late State Geologist, its
merits as a scientific work, have received no higher commen-
dation at the hands of the scientific world, than its position
in the scale of usefulness has entitled it to in public opinion
at home. It may be proper to mention that although the
facts relating to the counties of Tippah, Tishomingo, Pon-
totoc and Itawamba, together with the diagrams and maps
illustrating them, are almost exclusively derived from my
field notes of a special survey of those counties, my obser-
vations have been perverted and misinterpreted to such an
extent, that I am obliged to disclaim entirely any responsi-
bility for the statements given, these having been made
to correspond to the preconceived ideas of the writer,
rather than to facts. I have to disclaim likewise, the special
maps of those counties, which have been enlarged from those
accompanying my freld notes ; not only have some of the
lines been arbitrarily changed from those laid down by my-
self on the spot, but the enlarged scale exhibits a specious
pretension to a degree of accuracy not attainable under the
circumstances.

In that part of the book in which the materials gathered
by myself have been made use of, truth and fiction are so
intricately entangled, that it is quite impossible to separate
the two by any correction which could be briefly made ; and
it is a matter of conjecture whether any other part of the
book is more reliable than this. Yet this work, which I
must consider as entirely unworthy of confidence in all its
parts, is all that we now possess to show what observations
and results have been heretofore obtained — excepting the
matter contained in Prof. Wailes' printed Report, and my
own field notes.

We have heard from 'various sources, that the speedy com-
pletion of the survey might be confidently anticipated. In

13'

reality, it is but just begun. What has thus far been done —
a very general geological reeonuoisance of the State, and the
field-work of the special survey of six or seven counties,
would, in the hands of one competent and efficient officer,
properly equipped, have been the work of ten or twelve-
months in the field, when restricting his attention to the ob-
jects of ag eological and agricultural survey alone.* Had
the arrangement made by the Board of Trustees in 1856 re-
maine^ in force after the separation of the survey from the
University, so that a Principal and an Assistant, each prop-
erly equipped, could have jointly prosecuted the work, there
would have been a chance of reasonable progress : more es-
pecially when (as has been the case for some time,) it was
understood that, for the present at least, geology and agri-
culture were to be the sole objects of the survey, to the ex-
elusion of any more special pursuit of the less important ,
though not less interesting branches of botany and zoology.

But it is no more reasonable to charge a single person, no
matter how competent and efficient, with the execution of a
work like this, than it would be to employ a single work-
man to build a house. Every one knows what disadvanta-
ges the latter would be laboring under ; he might work a
lifetime, having to perform himself all the particulars of
making and laying brick, sawing lumber, splitting shingles,
etc.. and after all, the edifice will neither be as perfect as it
might have been made with very little assistance from others,
nor will it have been of any use until completed ; and what
is more, every one, and most of ail the workman himself,
would be out of patience with it. And no one would sup-
pose that the capital so employed had been profitably in-
vested.

Now, the case of a geological and agricultural survey of
a State like Mississippi, is precisely analagous to that of the
house just cited. The labors required in its performance

It must be borne in mind, that it is only during eight months of the year, at
farthest, that fluid-work is practicable even in the most favored parts of Mississippi.

14

are scarcely less various in their character ; the simultaneous
co-operation of several persons is of even greater import-
ance ; and the disproportion between the means employed,
and the work to be done, is quite as glaring in the eyes of
those acquainted with the nature of such surveys. But in
order to make this apparent to all, it may be well to cite the
precedents of some of the other States in which geological
surveys have been ordered.

In most cases, certain sums were provisionally appropri-
ated for the purpose of those surveys ; while the specialties
of their execution, and among these the determination of the
force to be employed, were left, more or less, in the discre-
tion of the Governors and principal geologists. The work
could thus be placed under the conditions most favorable in
the judgment of competent persons, to its advancement, under
existing circumstances ; they were thus prosecuted as far as
the means permitted, additional appropriations being there-
after granted as they became necessary.

Thus, the State of New York, in 1836, appropriated the
sum of $104,000 to carry into effect the provisions of an act
of which, be it remembered, the act providing for a geologi-
cal survey of Mississippi is almost a literal copy. The State
exceeded by Mississippi in area, was subdivided into three dis-
tricts, in each of which not a single person, but a full corps,
and sometimes several of these, were engaged in the opera-
tions of the survey. Even, thus the field work extended
over a considerable number of years, nor has the publica-
tion of the results been quite completed even at the present
time. Subsequent appropriations have swelled the amount
expended (so far as I have been able to ascertain from the
incomplete documents at my disposal,) to more than $200,000
— it has been currently reported to exceed a quarter of a
million, at the present moment. Well may New York be
proud of that page of her history which bears the record
of her survey ; the results of which — as laid down in that
magnificent work, the Natural History of New York — aside
from their great practical importance, have proved to the

15

world more convincingly than thousands of Annual Com-
mencement and Independence Day orations, that republican
institutions are * ot necessarily unfavorable to the'progress of
science ; — that science which though still affected to be held
in contempt by not a few who call themselves "practical men,"
has but so recently achieved one of the proudest triumphs of
the age — the Atlantic Telegraph !

As yet, the example of New York stands unrivalled on •
either side of the Atlantic. Six years ago, Mississippi gave
promise of following in the footsteps of her senior sister ;
but she failed to redeem that promise in practice. Taking
as a basis the above estimate of $200,000, and considering
that like effects invariably require like forces to produce
them, the annual appropriation of $3,000 made by Missis-
sippi, would require to run for 66, say sixty-six years, in order
to complete the survey in accordance with the act creat-
ing it!

But although the letter of the law of 1852 still remains
unchanged, it has been practically assumed for some time
past, (as before observed,) that the more immediate objects
of a geological and agricultural survey are the first to be
attained. Let us compare notes, then, with some of the
States in which surveys of this [kind have been ordered.
Alabama, Kentucky and Missouri have adopted the New
York plan of appropriating from time to time such sums as
might be found requisite for the successful prosecution of the
work. Missouri began, a few years since, by making an ap-
propriation of $20,000 ; since then has had no less than
three parties in the field at any time, besides a chemist con.
stantly employed in the laboratory work. Being in skillful
and efficient hands, the results of the work have, under this
system, been such as to insure the requisite appropriations,
whenever needed. The same has been the case in Kentucky;
her survey began in 1854, and now almost completed, was
carried on by three corps simultaneously, appropriations suf-
ficient to sustain them being made as required. The Alaba-
ma survey, at first advancing slowly, with limited means

16

supplied by the State University, was so far advanced by an
appropriation of $15,000, placed in the hands of a Tuousey,
that at the period of the untimely demise of that eminent
man, it might be considered as half completed, although in
his labors he had been aided by but one Assistant. Unfortu-
nately, however, in this case, the appropriation failed to be
renewed in proper time, and during the consequent sus-
pension of operations (not even the printing of a report hav-
ing been provided for,) a large part of the results so far ob-
tained, were buried with the observer. It must be recollect-
ed, that when a work of this kind is suddenly stopped at a
point, when, if prosecuted, half of the labor might be con-
sidered as having been performed, that first half will not by
any means contain a proportional amount of useful informa-
tion j no more than if we arrest the manufacture of cloth at
the point when the yarn is ready for the loom, we can use
that material as an inferior kind of cloth !

It may be that the evils attendant upon the uncertainty of
the renewal of an appropriation necessarily subject every few
years, to discussion in the political arena, are among the
reasons which induced other States to adopt a different form
of appropriation ; which, by rendering a repeated special dis-
cussion unnecessary, should make the continuance of a work
of acknowledged importance to all, less liable to obstruc-
tion by every variation of the political wind-vane. But in
most cases, while avoiding Seylla, they have fallen into
Charybdis. They intended to shield the young tree from
being prematurely cut off ; but while successfully preventing
this, they forgot to supply to it such nourishment as should
enable it to grow at all. Both in Tennessee and Mississippi,
where this policy has been pursued, the annual appropria-
ations are insufficient to secure the completion of their geo-
logical surveys within a deceunium or two. Tennessee has
done even less than Mississippi. Yet we see (and this fact
has added to the dissatisfaction of the Mississippians,) that
the geological survey of the former State stands high in the
good graces of the public. With a due appreciation of the

17

fell qualifications of the learned gentlemen now in charge
of that survey, I must observe, that *the natural conditions
existing in Tennessee arc as decidedly favorable to the ap-
preciation of the geological survey by the public generally,
as in Mississippi they are unfavorable, for reasons before stat-
ed. Had we been able to proclaim the discovery in a Duck-
town mine, of quarries of exquisite marble, or inexhaustible
beds of stone coal, our short-comings might have been cov-
ered with the broad mantle of charity. But the dingy ex-
terior of our marls, lignites and limestones, is little calculat-
ed to dazzle the public eye.

Our neighbor State of Arkansas, has done somewhat bet-
ter, by entering the field with an annual appropriation of
$4,000. This sum, having been appro priated/ram the outset,
and under circumstances peculiarly favorable, appears to be
adequate to insure to that survey a fair rate of progress, in
the hands of its distinguished Principal, aided by one As-
sistant.

It may be observed that with the single exception of Ten-
nessee, no other State has made as small a provision for its
geological survey as Mississippi ; notwithstanding that, as
before set forth, her survey requires more especially, great
and time-costing accuracy throughout, and will not be satis-
factory to any one unless speedily completed.

It would perhaps be desirable, and a saving both of time
and money, were Mississippi to adopt provisions similar to
those made by Missouri and other States. Had the sum
heretofore expended on the geological survey of this State,
been placed at once in the hands of a competent man, with
powers (under strict accountability,) to make such disposi-
tion of the funds as, in the Governor's and his discretion,
should seem best adapted to further the survey, the latter
might, without further appropriation, have been more than
half completed long ago.

But I do not mean to propose, at the present time, inno-
vations which might prove distasteful to a good many, — es-
pecially those who prefer spending in small sums twice the
R-2

18

amount which, if at oiice appropriated, would finish the
work. The public does not appear to be prepared to re-
ceive favorably such a proposition, and under existing cir-
cumstances, it is perhaps best to adhere to the old plan, with
such modifications only as the interests of the State impe-
riously demands, and without which, no real and satisfactory
progress is attainable. The minimum is the provision for an
Assistant, and for the establishment of a suitable laboratory.

In regard to the latter, it may perhaps be surprising to
those acquainted with the Legislative Acts concerning the
survey, that the $1,200 appropriated by the Legislature, in
1857, for laboratory purposes, should not have been sufficient
to accomplish that end — as they undoubtedly would have
been, had they been judiciously managed. But the vouchers
filed in the Auditor's office, by the late State Geologist, as
well as the stock on hand (now deposited in one of the front
rooms of the Penitentiary,) show that scarcely more than
one-half of the sum appropriated has been applied to the
purchase of articles really useful or necessary for an analyti-
cal laboratory. The rest, (except $54 11 still remaining in
the Treasury,) has been expended in the purchase of promis-
cuous articles adapted to exhibition, amusement, and other
purposes foreign to the survey ; (among the larger items, I
may mention $212 50 for two microscopes, and $73 75 for
meteor oligical instruments.) And from among the articles
mentioned in the vouchers, and certified as having been re-
ceived by the late Geologist, a number, to the value of $110,
are nowhere to be found. Many articles of first necessity,
have on the other hand, been altogether omitted ; and the
appropriation has been exhausted to within a fraction, with-
out there being the least provision for the fitting up of a
room with bare walls, to make it answer the purposes of a
laboratory.

$500 more will, at the lowest estimate, be required to put
the survey laboratory, in working order. A part of this
sum might, it is true, be derived from the sale of such of the
superfluous articles as may be saleable. But these can at

19

best be sold only at a sacrifice, and net very readily at that.
The proceeds might, if necessary, at any time be charged to
the current survey appropriation.

The salary of the Assistant, heretofore, had been fixed at
$1,000 per annum. Experience proves that this sum is in-
sufficient to form a permanent inducement to any competent
man ; and a continual change of persons has been the con-
sequence of this inadequacy. Now, all changes of this kind
are not only vexatious and involve a serious loss of time,
but each one is in itself a positive pecuniary loss to the
State; for the simple reason that full efficiency on the part of
the incumbent, whether Principal or Assistant, requires a cer-
tain amount of personal and local experience, which can
only be obtained by connexion with the work itself, for some
length of time. I suggest, therefore, that the salary of the
Assistant be fixed at $1,500 — the same as in other States.

In the present stage of the survey, the duties of the As-
sistant would not, as a general thing, be in the field, but
in the laboratory ; hence, no additional field outfit
would, for the present, be required. The appropria-
tion now existing, of $1.000 per annum, for current expen-
ses, is not however, sufficient to defray the expenses of both
laboratory and field work, when carried on simultaneously ;
an additional appropriation of $300 per annum, will be un-
ary for this purpose.

The permanent annual appropriation required for the sur-
vey, under this arrangement, exclusive of any contingencies^
would therefore amount to $4,800 ; besides which, $500 are
at present required to complete the chemical laboratory.

The act of the Legislature, disconnecting the survey from
the University, provides that ;'the State Geologist shall keep
his office in the city of Jackson j" and furthermore ':that the
State Geologist may occupy as a laboratory the two front
rooms in the second story of the Penitentiary, and shall bo
allowed the assistance of one convict, to be named bv the

s, to aid him in 'keeping- his apparatus in

There scarcely appears to exist, in the nature of the work,
any reason why the locality where the in-door work of the
survey is to be carried on, should be fixed by law. The
headquarters of the geological survey of Arkansas and Ken-
tucky, for instance, are at the residence of the Geologist to
those States, Dr. D. D. Owen, in Indiana. It is true that
all other things being equal, it would be natural that a de-
partment under control of the Executive, should be located
at the seat of Government. The fact that in most cases the
collections resulting from geological surveys have been or-
dered to be ultimately deposited at the State capital, would
alone furnish a sufficient reason, since the removal of collec-
tions of this kind can rarely be effected without some injury to
delicate specimens, and always gives a good deal of trouble.

In the present instance, however, it is ordered that the
specimens collected be divided between, the State University
and a State collection to be formed at Jackson. It becomes,
therefore, from the outset, a matter of indifference in which
direction one-half of the collection may finally require to be
moved. Almost all the specimens heretofore collected have
been deposited at the University -f and were the removal of
headquarters necessary at the present stage of the survey, it
would be quite impracticable to effect the subdivision of the
collections, save to a very small extent. For the work of
examination and determination remains to be done yet, and
it is of the utmost importance in this study, to have the ma-
terials as full aad complete as possible. Practically, it
would become necessary to remove almost the whole of the
collections, involving a great expenditure of time and labor,
and the de?tnxi,u,ii of many specimens — the majority of
these being of a character unusually delicate. But worse
than this, it would deprive the University for several years
to come, of the use of a collection illustrating the geology
of the State ; or in other words the opportunity of ocularly

II

demonstrating to its sons the very phenomena which -they
will have to deal with in practice.

For the elucidation and elaboration of the results which
still lie dormant, as it were, in these specimens, (comprising
nearly one-half of the whole work,) it is indispensable that
there should be at command, if not a library, at least a con-
siderable number of books not usually found in general li-
braries. The greater part of the books so required, the ex-
pense of which is not inconsiderable, were purchased by the
University during its connexion with the survey, with a spe-
cial view to the necessities of the latter ; whilst they cannot
be found in the State library at Jackson, nor so far as 1 know,
in any other library in the State. Were the head-quarters
of the survey to be" removed from Oxford, it would become
necessary to purchase these books once more, and a special
appropriation would be required for the purpose.

In view of these objections, nothing short of very con-
siderable advantages to be realized by the removal, could
justify the same. But there is not actually a single one to
be gained, unless indeed, that the State of Mississippi could
not afford to provide for its geological survey, other accom-
modations than two rooms in the Penitentiary, or other as-
sistance than that of a convict.

The rent of rooms suitable for the purposed of the sur-
vey would, in any case, be but a trifling expense ; but even
this extra expenditure may perhaps be avoided in the pres-
ent, the board of Trustees having, at their last meeting, ex-
pressed their willingness that such rooms in the University
buildings as, in the discretion of the President, were not re-
quired for University purposes, might be appropriated to the
use of the survey. There appears to be little doubt that the
collections can and will be thus accomodated, it being in the
interest of the University to have them near at hand. An
apartment for a laboratory may not be as readily found, there
being special requirements to render a room suitable for that
purpose j but the difficulties to be overcome in this respect,

22

at Oxford, will scarcely be greater than those existing on
the second floor of the Penitentiary.

Should you think fit to recommend, and the Legislature to
authorize the changes here proposed, I might hope to be able
to lay before you, next year, a summary of results, which
should satisfy the sceptical as to the importance of the sur~
vey, and the advantages offered by an energetic prosecution
over the dilatory system thus far prevailing. Should no
such change, however, be effected, I shall still continue to
do my duty, although with a .consciousness that the severest
toil will be unavailing in furthering the work either to my
own satisfaction, or that of the public ; and that the people
of Mississippi will be late in reaping the benefits which the
prompt and thorough execution of their geological surveys,
has conferred, and is conferring upon other States,

With the highest respect, your obedient servant,

EUGENE W. IIILGARD, State Geologist.

JACKSON, August 18.58.

'

ERRATA,

1 — Page 4, 2d iiiif', 8d paragraph, for "accumulative," read an-

nulative.

*2. — Page 10, 2d paragraph 6th line, for "Zoology," read Geology.
3, — Page 11, 2d paragraph 8th line, for "until removed," read

until he was removed.
4. — Page 11, 2d paragraph 18ih line, for " McRae, il was," read

MeRae, was.

5. — Page 16, 2d lino, "Tousey," read Tuomey.
6. — Page 18, 6th line, for ''interests," read interest.
7, — Page 18, 2d paragraph, 18th line, for " meteorligieal " read

meteorlogical.
3. — Page 21, 4th paragraph 4th line, for "the present, the Board';

read the present instance, the hoard.

14 DAY USE

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