COUNCIL FOR 1844. 15 



Considered as objects of scientific investigation, Fossils 

 should always be regarded in two points of view : first, in 

 relation to the particular rocks in which they occur ; secondly, 

 in their structural relations to one another, and to the entire 

 range of species throughout the animal kingdom. 



Undoubtedly the identification of strata through the evi- 

 dence of their included fossils, should be the first considera- 

 tion in a Museum contemplating the objects embraced by the 

 Yorkshire Philosophical Society. But as the critical investi- 

 gation of organic remains by which these identifications are 

 arrived at, is a purely zoological process, it is not enough to 

 display fossils only in a stratigrapMcal arrangement. More- 

 over, the unequal duration of certain forms in the ancient 

 Fauna of the Globe, or the marked changes which certain 

 others present when continued through several geological pe- 

 riods, and which together constitute one of the most curious 

 phenomena that the science of Geology has made known, can 

 only be advantageously studied when the several species of a 

 genus are exhibited together ; it being of course understood 

 that each species is accompanied by an indication of the for- 

 mation in which it occurs. The duplicate invertebral fossils 

 contained in the British Museum are now being arranged by 

 the side of the most nearly allied forms in the collection of 

 living species. This important step was accomplished by a 

 representation to the Trustees in 1840, from the Members of 

 the British Association. Henceforth, therefore, in our national 

 collection, the student in Zoology will find the past and 

 existing Fauna presented to his notice as one common object 

 of contemplation, and the unphilosophical distinction which 

 to a great extent has made them separate branches of scien- 

 tific enquiry, will gradually be abandoned. 



One source from which the Council anticipate a large aug- 

 mentation to the geological collection, is in the exchange of 

 duplicate fossils with other museums and private collections. 

 The position of York on the Bed Marl, and the consequent bar- 

 renness of the immediate neighbourhood, has hitherto rendered 



