8 REPORT OF THE 



He entered on his duties on the first of January in the pre- 

 sent year. During the vacancy of the office of Keeper of 

 the Museum, the Council appointed Mr, Charles Wakefield, 

 Associate of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, to assist the 

 Secretaries ; an appointment which has proved satisfactory in 

 its results. 



As both the arrangement and nomenclature of the geological 

 collection were imperfect, it appeared desirable to the Council, 

 especially with a view to the Meeting of the British Association 

 at Leeds, in September last, that the whole of it should be 

 carefully examined, and the specimens classified and named. 

 Mr. Woodward of the British Museum undertook this work, 

 in conjunction with Mr. Dallas, and spent three weeks in York 

 for this purpose. On the completion of their task, they pre- 

 sented a report to the Council, containing their remarks upon 

 the condition of the Society's geological collection, and import- 

 ant suggestions for its increase and arrangement. To this 

 report the Council will have occasion to refer again. 



The fitting up of the new rooms has proceeded more slowly 

 than the Council anticipated, when they presented their last 

 report. It was not easy to determine in what manner the 

 magnificent saurian remains, for the reception of which chiefly 

 the extension has been made, could be most effectually pre- 

 served and displayed, whether by being placed horizontally on 

 tables, or encased in the wall. The latter mode has been 

 adopted, with one exception, in conformity with the practice of 

 the British Museum. It was necessary also that the heating 

 apparatus should first be fixed ; and no extensive arrangement 

 could be satisfactorily made in the absence of a Keeper of the 

 Museum. These causes of delay no longer exist, and the 

 Council will proceed immediately to complete the work, as 

 far as the means at their disposal enable them. The Meeting 

 of the British Association at Leeds procured for the Society the 

 advantage of a visit from the President of the year. Professor 

 Owen, who spent many hours in the examination and measure- 

 ment of its saurian remains. This examination enabled him 

 to ascertain that they are specifically different from those 

 which the corresponding strata in the South of England have 



