LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
To His Excellency Governor Robert E. Pattison, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania:
Sir: I have the honor to present two reports on certain fossil forms found in Warren, Venango, and Beaver counties, one by Mr. Charles E. Beecher, formerly of Warren, now of Albany, N. Y., and the other by our distinguished American palæontologist, Prof. James Hall, of Albany, who, when other opportunities failed, kindly volunteered to study and describe the remarkable crustacean animals obtained by the Hon. I. F. Mansfield, in past years, from his coal mine workings at Cannelton.
Mr. Beecher's figures, drawn by himself, were lithographed by Breuker & Kessler, of Philadelphia.
Mr. Mansfield's specimens, exquisitely drawn by Mr. George B. Simpson, have been reproduced in fac simile by a heliotype process in Boston.
The Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania was planned and has been prosecuted with a primary view to the material interests of the Commonwealth, the practical study of the rocks, their structure and mineral contents, and to as perfect a description of them as a diligent survey of facts could afford, with maps and sections and occasional photographic views for illustration; and I am happy to know that this conception of the proper nature of a State Survey has been approved by the Board of Commissioners, without reserve; and has been accepted with satisfaction also by intelligent citizens of the State, whether interested in the acquisition of such knowledge by possessing lands, or desirous of acquiring it as preparatory to exploring or mining lands.
(v PPP.)
