PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 93 



tunities, during summer excursions, of acquiring various natural 

 objects, would gladly do so had they but a few directions as to the 

 kind required. To obviate these obstacles and with a view of ena- 

 bling all who are disposed to add their mite to this department, as 

 well as of offering an incitement to indulge in an agreeable amuse- 

 ment which may grow into a rational pursuit, the council takes a 

 cursory review of the present state of the collection, and in so doing 

 points out those parts of it in which deficiencies are most numerous, 

 at the same time remarking that no part is by any means complete. 

 In the rocks more ancient than the coal formation, and in that divi- 

 sion of them called primary, viz., from the Mica Schist to the Clay 

 Slate inclusive, the collection is defective ; and visiters to the roman- 

 tic mountain scenery of North Wales, or the Cumberland and West- 

 moreland lakes, may have ample opportunities of obtaining examples ; 

 but of the series succeeding to the Clay Slate, viz., the Transition, 

 Upper Grauwacke, or, as it is now called, the Silurian system, the 

 Society possesses many rare and characteristic animal remains, from 

 the neighbourhood of Ludlow and from the well-known Dudley 

 Limestone. Of the Carboniferous system, they have numerous and 

 choice specimens, particularly of the vegetables belonging to the coal 

 formation itself ; but in the animal remains of the Mountain Lime- 

 stone, which is found in Derbyshire and several other northern coun- 

 ties, in the neighbourhood of Bristol, and in South Wales, the col- 

 lection is deficient ; and almost any fossils, particularly Encrinites, 

 should, if possible, be obtained. It is well known that organic re- 

 mains in the New Red Sandstone have but recently been detected in 

 England, and at present none have been found in a good state of 

 preservation, so that every thing should be actively searched out and 

 carefully collected. The Magnesian Limestone, which belongs to 

 this series and is extensively distributed in some of the northern 

 counties, affords many and curious remains ; of these, at present they 

 have not one. No part of the collection is so rich as that of the 

 Lias, though it may reasonably be expected that the numerous Lime- 

 stone quarries in this county will continue to yield new and valuable 

 additions. At present, scarcely any vegetable remains of the Lias of 

 Warwickshire have been detected; and it is greatly to be desired 

 that the attention of those members residing near the quarries should 

 be directed to that part of the subject. Any fossil specimens of the 

 remaining secondary rocks, from the inferior Oolite to the Chalk 

 inclusive, are desired. A similar remark is applicable to the tertiary 

 strata ; since, with the exception of a few crag fossils from Norfolk, 

 the collection contains no British organic remains of these strata. A 

 most valuable contribution of tertiary fossils, from Sicily, has been 

 presented by the Marquis of Northampton. The London Clay in 

 Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire swarms with fossils which may be easi- 

 ly obtained. The collection of simple minerals is at present very 

 limited in extent. Of these, there is one which is entirely new. It 

 is a beautii'uUy crystaUizcd Salt of Alumina, and, according to Dr. 



