y was that of the Bartons, near Philadelphia; and
the first work on botany was from Barton, of the same city. Logan,
Woodward, Brailsford, Shelby, Cooper, Horsfield, Colden, Clayton,
Muhlenburg, Marshall, Cutler, and Hosack, were also distinguished in
this delightful branch.

A study of the shells of our country has raised to eminence the names of
Barnes, Conrad, Lea, and Raffinesque. The magnificent fresh-water shells
of our Western rivers are unrivalled in the Old World in size and
beauty. How interesting would be a collection of all the specimens which
the organic kingdom of America presents, properly classified and
arranged according to the regions and States whence they were brought!
Paris has the museum of the natural history of France, and London of
Great Britain; but Washington has no museum[5] of the United States,
though so much richer in all these specimens.

In mineralogy, the work of Cleveland is most distinguished. Shepherd,
Mather, Troost, Torrey, and a few others, still pursue mineralogy for
its own sake; but, generally, our mineralogists have turned geologists,
studying rocks on a large scale, instead of their individual
constituents, and vieing with their brethren in Europe in bold and
successful generalization, and in the application of physical science to
their subject. Maclure was one of the pioneers, and Eaton and Silliman
contributed much to the stock of knowledge. This school has given rise
to the great geological surveys made or progressing in several of the
States. Jackson, in Maine, Hitchcock, in Massachusetts; Vanuxen, Conrad,
and Mather, in New York; the Rogerses, in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
Virginia; Ducatel, in Maryland; Owen and Locke, in the West; Troost, in
Tennessee; Horton, in Ohio; the courageous, scientific, and lamented
Nicolet, in Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin, have made contributions, not
only to the geology of our country, but to the science of geology
itself, which are conceded to be among the most valuable of the present
day. The able reports of Owen and Nicolet were made to Congress, and
deserve the highest commendation.

In geographical science, the explorations of Lewis and Clark; of Long,
Nicolet, and the able and intrepid Fremont; the effective State survey
of Massachusetts; the surveys of our public lands; the determination of
the boundaries of our States, and especially those of Pennsylvania, by
Rittenhouse and Elliott; of part of Louisiana, by Graham and Kearny;