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Excerpt from Report on the Geology, Mineralogy, Botany, and Zoology of Massachusetts: Part I. Economical Geology; Part II. Topographical Geology; Part III. Scientific Geology; Part IV, Catalogues of Animals and Plants; With a Descriptive List of the Specimens of Rocks and Minerals Collected for the Government On the 3d of March 1830 the Legislature of Massachusetts passed a Resolve, authorizing and requesting the Governor with the advice of the Council, "to appoint a Surveyor well skilled in astronomy and in the art of surveying upon trigonometrical principles - to make a general Survey of the Commonwealth, and from such astronomical observations and calculations as may be made, to project an accurate skeleton plan of the State, which shall exhibit the external lines thereof and the most prominent objects within those lines and their locations." In Governor Lincoln's Message to the Legislature May 29th, 1830, we find the following recommendation. "I beg leave to suggest to your consideration the utility of connecting with the Geographical Surveys, an examination of the geological features of the State, with a view to the exhibition of them on the map. Much knowledge of the natural history of the country would thus be gained, and especially the presence of valuable ores, with the localities and extent of quarries, and of coal and lime formations, objects of enquiry so essential to internal improvements, and the advancement of domestic prosperity, would be discovered, and the possession and advantages of them given to the public. I am assured that much has already been gratuitously done, by some eminent professors in our colleges, towards the accomplishment of such a work, and that, at a little expense, it might be completed, and the fruits of their generous labors thus far, be secured to the State. This, however, will require the interposition of your authority in increasing the present appropriation, and permitting an application of it, so far as may be necessary, in the exercise of a sound discretion, to the end proposed." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.