Historical and Tijpe Collections. 143 



To verify his theory Smith travelled in subsequent years over the GALIEBT 

 greater part of England and Wales, and made careful observations ^• 

 of the geological succession of the rocks, proving also, by the 

 fossils obtained, the identity of the strata over very wide areas 

 along their outcrops. 



His knowledge of fossils advanced even further, for he discovered 

 that those in situ retained their sharpness, whereas the same 

 specimens derived from the drifts or gravel-deposits were usually 

 rounded and water- worn, and had reached their present site by 

 subsequent erosion and transportation of portions of the parent rock. 



Mr. Smith received the award of the jird Wollaston Medal and 

 fund in 1831, from the hands of Professor Sedgwick, the President 

 of the Geological Society — " As a great original discoverer in 

 English geology, and especially for his having been the first, 

 in this country, to discover and teach the identification of strata, 

 and to determine their succession by means of their imbedded 

 fossils." 



In June, 1832, the Government of H.M. King "William IV 

 awarded Mr. Smith a pension of £100 a year, but he enjoyed it 

 only for seven years, as he died 28th August, 1839. 



In 1835 the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon Mr. Smith by 

 the Provost and Eellows of Trinity College, Dublin. The highest 

 compliment paid him was that by Sedgwick, who rightly named 

 him "the Father of English Geology." 



The bust above the case which contains William Smith's col- 

 lection is a copy of that by Chantry, surmounting the tablet to 

 his memory in the beautiful antique church of All Saints, at 

 Northampton, where his remains lie buried. 



We come next to a collection the very name of which betrays Sowerby's 

 the antiquity of its origin. It is known as Sowerby's ** Mineral co^f" 

 Conchology." • ecology, 



This collection was begun by James Sowerby prior to 1812, ' 



and continued by his son, James de Carle Sowerby, E.L.S., ^ xable- 

 during the preparation of their great work, entitled "The Mineral cases 

 Conchology of Great Britain," which appeared in parts between 

 June, 1812, and December, 1845, and forms a work of six volumes 

 octavo, illustrated with 648 plates. 



The value of this work consists in the fidelity and accuracy of 

 the figures given, and also in the fact that most of the specimens 

 drawn are here named and described for the first time. They 



