SUPPLEMENT TO THE INTRODUCTION. xcill 
upon them. But in one respect he stood without a rival. To his good hopes, untiring 
zeal, and prospective wisdom, we owe the first establishment of the Museum of Practical 
Geology; and to his administrative skill, we owe its admirable organization. To him we 
owe the Government Geological Survey; and every new work done, in our days or in times 
to come, by that great staff of scientific labourers, will be a fresh tribute to the memory 
of Sir Henry De la Beche, and will add a fresh decoration to his monument. 
So far I have been addressing the general reader. The few remaining sentences of 
this Supplement are addressed to the Members of the University of Cambridge, In addition 
to the old cabinets of Dr Woodward we have a noble collection in our Museum, formed 
partly by purchase from the University funds,—partly by the gifts of our academical friends,— 
and partly by the labours of my own hands, continued year after year so long as my 
health and strength endured. The valuable collection of recent shells, and all the Pale- 
ontological collections,—English and Foreign, Secondary and Tertiary,—have been put in 
a good, approximate arrangement by Professor M*Coy*. His largest and finished labour 
has been bestowed on the Paleozoic series described in this volume, which is at length 
completed by the publication of a Third Fasciculus. Of the extent and value of this series 
the reader may now form his own judgment. 
The publication of this volume I regard with feelings of great and natural interest, 
as a goodly addition to the stores of English Palzeozoic Geology; and as conferring, through 
the labours of my friend M*Coy, a vast additional value on a_ public Collection brought 
together during the years I have filled the Woodwardian chair. 
For a quarter of a century, after my appointment to the geological chair, we had no 
room adequate to the reception of the additions made year by year to our Collection. Hence, 
all but very limited arrangements were necessarily suspended; and when our new Museum 
was built, the accumulation of unarranged materials was enormous. And even now, after all the 
labours of M*Coy, great and I think valuable collections (some purely mineralogical, some 
voleanic, some metamorphic, many of a mixed nature, and none purely paleontological) 
remain unarranged, or in a state of such imperfect arrangement as makes them of com- 
paratively small value to the geological student.—The infirmities of advancing years, an 
increasing imperfection of sight, and the frequent interruptions of bad health, make me 
despair of personally finishing the work that still remains to be done in our Museum. 
I therefore invite such younger members of the University as take an interest in natural 
science to assist me in this task. Though, at first, it might seem dry and perhaps 
repulsive, it would increase in interest as it advanced, and would not be without its 
share of intellectual profit; and assuredly, if carried out, would greatly contribute to the 
value of our Collection and to the honour of the University. 
* T am happy, in this place, to express my own thanks, and those of the University of Cambridge, to Professor 
H. Rogers, of the United States, and to the Rev. W. B. Clarke, of Sidney, New South Wales, for very valuable Palzeonto- 
logical collections presented by them to our Museum. The collection of recent shells was a great addition to our Museum, 
presented by H. J. Brooke, Esq., F.R.S.—a distinguished labourer in kindred fields of science. 
