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Dr. Charles T. Jackson also figures prominently in the Albert Mines story
and the subsequent discussions about whether albertite was coal or bitumen. He
was familiar with Gesner's work and had little, if any, respect for him.
Charles Jackson was also a friend of Robert Foulis. Jackson, who studied
geology at the Ecole des Mines in Paris, was a prominent American scientist,
medical doctor and geologist.
He was a member of the Boston Society of Natural History, serving as curator of
Mineralogy and Geology, among other roles. Jackson's dislike of Gesner went
back to the late 1830s when he and Francis Alger charged Gesner with
plagiarism. The lack of a settlement of this charge undoubtedly fueled a
seething anger in Jackson.
)
Jackson and Alger visited Nova Scotia between 1826 and 1829 while Jackson
was studying for his medical degree. They published 'Description of the
Mineralogy and Geology of a Part of Nova Scotia' in the American Journal of
Science and Arts. This was followed by a revised and enlarged edition published
in 1832. Four years later, Gesner published his remarks on the geology and
mineralogy of Nova Scotia in 1836, receiving 100 pounds for it, a considerable
sum of money. This report was one of Gesner's more significant works.
)
In a letter to the Nova Scotia Legislature, dated February 25, 1840,
Jackson and Alger charged that:
"a large portion of his [Gesner's] work has been borrowed from them
without a candid acknowledgment - that their work has served as the model and
basis of his, that discoveries and observations made by them, either appear as
his own, or are refered (sic) to others . . ."
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