Abstract
The preëminent position of the United States in the production of minerals and mineral products, and the vastness of our mineral resources, have been brought forcibly to the attention of the general public by the war. Further, the application of petrographic-optical methods to the solving of special problems imposed by the war, for example in the production of optical glass and the developing of spark plugs to meet the exacting requirements of airplane service, to mention only two cases, has also served to stimulate interest in the study of minerals and the methods devised by mineralogists and petrographers. Chemists, physicists, ceramists, and engineers have come to realize that in many fields of human endeavor a knowledge of mineralogy is absolutely indispensable. Hence, it is reasonable to assume that mineralogy and allied subjects will gain in favor with college students as fields offering unexcelled opportunities for men of scholarly instincts both on account of the many purely scientific problems to be solved, and because of the diversified applications of mineralogical methods to be made in commerce and industry. It therefore appears that a series of articles describing the facilities for instruction in mineralogy and cognate subjects at the various institutions of higher education in America is fully justified, for the time is at hand when we must make every effort to assume leadership in this important field. The present article describes the Mineralogical Laboratory recently completed at the University of Michigan, and the development of the subject at that institution. It is hoped that similar articles descriptive of the facilities for the teaching of mineralogy at other institutions may be published in due time.
