Geological Society. 299 



the stratification of England : they confirm a suggestion of Dr. Buck- 

 land and Mr. Lyell, that the coal formation of that neighbourhood 

 was in reality the equivalent of a portion of our Oolitic strata ; and 

 demonstrate the remarkable fact, that the same fossils which in En- 

 gland occur in oolitic limestone, exist there in strata of quartzose sand- 

 stone and of shale ! The whole series indeed, of the phenomena 

 developed by recent examination in Scotland and the north of En- 

 gland, gives rise to the most interesting speculations on the questions 

 of geological identity, and of the relative value in geology of mine- 

 ralogical and zoological characters, — which has been so ably treated 

 by Brongniart and other continental writers: — questions, which it is 

 necessary to keep continually in view, and that acquire fresh interest 

 and importance in proportion as we extend our researches to the re- 

 moter districts of the world. 



To those amongst us who are confined to England, the most use- 

 ful task perhaps would be, when we have mastered the general re- 

 lations of our series, to take up some one portion of the subject, — 

 a group of strata, or even a single stratum, or any one of the num- 

 berless questions connected with their zoological and mineralogical 

 relations, — and to publish in the form of Monographs the results of 

 our inquiries. For it may be stated with confidence, that there 

 is not any one of our strata, however familiarly it may be supposed 

 to be already known, that would not, if thus treated, reward the 

 most elaborate and minute examination. 



But those who are deprived of the privilege of travelling even in 

 England, must not suppose that they can be of no service as geo- 

 logists ; or if they belong to our body, that they are thus released 

 from their obligation to be active in our cause : and there are two 

 descriptions of persons, — the resident clergy, and members of the 

 medical profession in the country, — to whom what I am about to 

 say may be more particularly deserving of attention. Such persons, 

 if they have not yet acquired a taste for natural science, can hardly 

 conceive the interest which the face of the country in their vicinity 

 would gain, however unpromising it may appear, by their having such 

 inquiries before them ; how much the monotony of life in a remote 

 or thinly inhabited district would thus be relieved y nor how much 

 benefit they might confer on the natural history of their coun- 

 try. Even of those who have made some progress in geological 

 studies, many, I apprehend, are prevented from investigating atten- 

 tively the tracts where they reside, or from communicating their know- 

 ledge, by a belief that the Geology of England itself is sufficiently 

 known already ; and that the district, with the phenomena of which 

 they are themselves familiar, would have no interest or novelty for 

 the world at large : — whereas it may be asserted (and it were easy to 

 produce examples from modern researches in some of the counties 

 near London), that there is no district that will not furnish sufficient 

 interest and novelty to an attentive inquirer, not merely to repay his 

 own exertions, but to instruct the most learned, and enlarge the 

 bounds of our science. 



To landed proprietors also, it can hardly be known, without some 



2 Q 2 tinge 



