10 REPORT OF THE 



the space not occupied by the birds may be devoted to the 

 reception of specimens of the few mammalia which are found 

 in Britain. Two table cases in the centre will, according to 

 the calculation of Mr. Dallas, furnish adequate room for a 

 collection of shells, echinodermata, polypes and Crustacea, 

 together with a small typical collection of insects. 



In the corresponding room on the other side, into which a 

 door is about to be opened, the Council propose to begin the 

 formation of a collection of the fossils of Yorkshire. Almost 

 every geologist from a distance, who visits the Museum, ex- 

 presses a wish, that by means of such a collection he could at 

 once see the identity or diversity of the productions of the 

 Yorkshire strata, and those which he has studied in his own 

 district. The great extent of the county and the variety of its 

 formations, from the tertiaries of its eastern coast to the 

 palaeozoic remains in its western hills, will furnish abundant 

 means of gradually filling the cases of such a special Yorkshire 

 Museum. It is not, however, the intention of the Council to 

 interfere with the stratigraphical arrangement of the present 

 geological room. Nothing can be more interesting and in- 

 structive to the student of geology and palaeontology than the 

 series here presented to him, whether he proceeds from the 

 latest and most superficial deposits, through the long succession 

 of strata, till he reaches those in which hitherto no traces of 

 organic life have been found ; or follows the ascending scale, 

 from its simplest to its most complex forms. The collection in 

 the geological room could hardly continue to serve this purpose, 

 if the greater nimiber of Yorkshire specimens were at once 

 withdrawn, to be placed in a separate series. Many duplicates, 

 however, are in the Society's possession, by means of which 

 the commencement of a separate Yorkshire collection may be 

 made, and the Comicil feel persuaded that when once this design 

 is known, contributions of specimens will flow in from various 

 quarters. The importance of such a special exhibition of the 

 palaeontology of Yorkshire is evident ; and if it is to be formed 

 any where within the limits of the county, it will not be denied 

 that the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society is its 

 most appropriate place. To whatever extent this special collec- 



