New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1842-10-18


Printer TO the State 1912
"Unlcss our feet at least stood in the midst OF
Nature, all our faces would be pale and llyid. =
Thus wrote, sincerely and truly, heafs''y man
who felt the disease Of ell Society ana the res'o-
raive mower of Naturc--the great mother ana
nurse of us a]r The sentimen: has been theme
for Poetry in all oges; and, better still, IN some
heart. IN every age, i, has found dwelling place,
;. ...te5 safe from all bleak storms and
frsslv worked according to its own law. L. is in
.n;,;,inp to know this, and to see in our midst
ss., WHO feel it's truth and who devote their
.,rsnsth to its diffusion and enforcement. 1t is
b,tsr still to see State demeaning itself as if it
had Soui, which proverbially it has not; and TO
hear ii speaking, by its acts, these wants of all its
nsnbers and its effort to satisfy them. The deep
y, wants of ocety are those which rarely, per-
han. never, attract the attention of the State; in
decd these are the very matters with which the
State resolves it has nothing to do, and perhaps
,;obtly, But if it will but evince sympathy with
,,s struggling members and disposition to aid
Them so far as it can, consderate will be
.ontent and thank the giver for the deodand.-
Should the State, moreover in its seeking for the
selfish stumble and bluuder upon something Of
,re scientific worth, it will receive no slight praise
m seem rot confused, and if it do not awkwardly
retreat from its endcavor, when it finds its chief
aim has been foiled. Some what after this sort is
the merit of our State in it's great Geological Sur
yeywhich is just completed and of which we have
before US the initial record of the first fruits For
some few years previous to 1885 the good people
Of New-York, representatively assembled, began
10 wish, then to hope and of course to believe
that although their tall, great forests were fast
fading away, food for their steam ensinery and
their kitchen CRATES, to supply their place, might
sill be found beneath the soil. They magnan-
nuHsls resolved to look: and in this purely eco
Bomical suggestion, originated the grand Survey
hthe prosecution of which all wise men SO heart
lkreioice. The Legislature most wisely added
the primary duty of those despatched upon this
soal.hluting mission, that Of making complete
Geological Survey of the State of furnishing cat
sogas Of its rocks, general account of its crust
tt as many feet below the surface as should be
practicable, and of formally introducing us to the
IN oir waers--onr neighbors, and, if we would |
only cultivate their acquaintance more, our last
and MT unworthy friends. And when the State.
fauud there was no coal to be had, it wisely and
like rational being, determined to ascertain, andI
auIy report. what we had in its stead nus y
ip1eh the calculations of tho State proved erro-
menus at the outset, through her commendable and,
1;pb
sGsi's cheap economy are we yet :" made rich.
Tie plan of this survey of the State was ar
rO,sd in the summer of 1885, and with slight
rb,eo,ent change, it was as follows: The de-
,.tment Of Zoology was assigned to JAMES Z.
DrK.y: the Botanical department to JOHN Tor
.sr; the Neurological and Chemical department
nIrwIs C. BECK; the archaeological depart
I men, TO TIMOTHY A. CONRAD; and the deologi
cal department to WILLIAM w. MATHSR, EBEN-
4 szyR Esaoss, JAMES HALL and LARDNER VAN
4 uxks. Tbi, is a liberal disposition, though we
kcpe some day to see the survey still moro ex-
tended There arc several departments OF the
Natural History of the State which, so far as we
1 can see, have not found place quite prominent
enough in this Survey. Entomology is one OF
sua interest, and we suppose, of course, has been
included in the Zoology, to which it properly be-
hrg Science overlooks nothing, and from eve
g&ag in Nature, her smallest insects even, may
Aahsallhy man fortify and nourish his soul
L,es of Nature would not willingly part with
1 asightest works the shrill rollcau OF the
hrestAy has meaning for them; and even In
4 abears Of old Anacreon, as he sat beneath the
4 &.ie, or wandered through the forests of Greece,
nth an ear quick to catch tho slightest note OF
Aare's great diapason, the song of the locust,
I arskaned such kindly thoughts as these:
4 ave pronounce thee happy, Cicada,
Z Foe on the tops of the mees,
A Drinking little dew, e
4 50 For thine are they all,
Il Whatever thou seest in the fields,
Il And whatever the woods bear
q Thou art the friend of the hnshandman,
4 In no respect nluring any oRe;
a And thou art honoIed among men,
i Sweet prophet of Summer.
II The MUSES. love thee,
a And pLpbus himself loves thee,
q -.ss And has given thee a snrllt boaS,
go d Are does not wrack thee,
D Thou skllful earth. born, song .loslng' ~
4 UnsrhsTipp, bpodless one
4 Almost thou art like the gods"
4 But we must come home. The volume before
us a large, elegan. quarto, splendidly printed
Nth a rich wide margin and a general beauty
rhich challenges admiration. 1t is the hrst Soi.
me of the Natural History of New-York; and
uatains first, an Introduction Of l7s pages pre-
B nredby Governor SEWARD, presenting full geo
Hsphical and political description of the State, 9
B s6ce of her educational establishments and her
pnessious,a history of her improvements in the art,
sciences, &c sketches of her agricultural condi
ssa. catalogues Of her productions in all depart
asass of literature, science and art and general