Geological Socief}/. *4;5 



one of the chief ornaments. Our own Publications cannot boast 

 of any of his papers; but he was well acquainted with the 

 scope of our inquiries, and for several years before his death 

 always attended to the geological phaenomena of the countries 

 which he visited in his excursions. He became a member ot 

 our Society in 1812; was frequently upon our Council, and for 

 some time one of our Vice-Presidents ; and the mterest which 

 he took in our welfare to the last, is fully testified by his recent 

 liberal donation, and by the suggestions with which it was accom- 



^^But though Dr. Wollaston did not publish any thing on the more 

 immediate subjects of our pursuit, his success in the cultivation of 

 other branches of knowledge has conduced, in no small degree, to 

 the recent advancement of Geology. The discovery of two new 

 metals was but a part of his contributions to chemical science: and 

 his application of Chemistry to the examination of very minute 

 quantities, by means of the simplest apparatus, divested chemical 

 inquiry of much of its practical difficulty, and greatly promoted the 

 progress of Mineralogy. His Camera Lucida is an acquisition ot 

 peculiar value to the Geologist, as it enables those who are unskilled 

 in drawing to preserve the remembrance of what they see, and 

 gives a fidelity to sketches hardly attainable by other means. The 

 adaptation of measurement by reflection to the purposes of Crystal- 

 loo-raphy, by the invention of his Goniometer, introduced into that 

 de°partment of science a certainty and precision, which the most 

 skilful observers were before unable to attain ; and his paper on the 

 distinctions of the Carbonates of Lime, Magnesia, and Iron, affords 

 one of the most remarkable instances that can be mentioned, ot 

 the advantage arising from the union of crystallography with che- 

 mical research. He was in fact a Mineralogist of the first order,— 

 if the power of investigating accurately the characters and com- 

 position of minerals be considered as the standard of skill. 



Possessing such variety of knowledge, with the most inventive 



quickness and sagacity in its application to new purposes, Dr. W ol- 



laston was at all times accessible to those whom he beheved to be 



sincerely occupied in useful inquiry : he seemed indeed himselt to 



delight in such communications; and his singular dexterity and 



neatness in experiment rendered comparatively easy to him the 



multiplied investigations arising from them, which to others might 



have been oppressive or impracticable. His penetration and correct 



judgement, upon subjects apparently the most remote from Ins own 



immediate pursuits, made him during many of the lat^r years o 



his lifetlie universal arbiter on questions of scientific difficulty; ana 



Ihu instruction thus derived from communication with a man oi his 



attainments, has had an effect on the progress of knowledge in tins 



country, and on the conduct of various public undertakings,— the 



value of which, it would be dilKcult to estimatc,-and the loss ol 



which it is at present, and long will be, quite impossible to supply. 



These, (Jenllcmen, are sonic ol the grounds upon which the 



memory of Ur. Wollaston claims our gratitude and veneration, as 



■' cultivators 



