Geology. 199 



by William Smith, the "Father of English Geology," to 

 illustrate his work " Strata Identified by Organized Fossils," 

 which was published in the same year. Private collections, like 

 that of Gilbertson, were also acquired in rapid succession. The 

 most important addition of this kind was James Sowerby's 

 Collection, which was purchased in 1860, and contained most 

 of the original British fossils described in his "Mineral Con- 

 chology." 



As the British Dependencies and Colonies were gradually 

 explored, nearly all the pioneer collections of fossils reached the 

 Museum. Cautley presented his Vertebrata from the Siwalik 

 Formation of India in 1840; Bain, Atherstone, and others sent 

 fossil Reptilia from the Karoo Formation of South Africa ; Sir 

 Thomas Mitchell, Sir Daniel Cooper, Dr. George Bennett, 

 Mr. G. F. Bennett, and others contributed extinct Marsupials 

 and other Vertebrata from Australia ; while the Hon. Walter 

 Mantell and many other explorers in New Zealand sent 

 important collections of remains of the extinct birds of that 

 country. The Department of Geology, in fact, now comprises 

 most of the original type-specimens of the fossil Vertebrata 

 discovered in the British possessions. 



Discoveries abroad have also received much attention, and 

 among unique acquisitions may be enumerated the Pomel and 

 Bravard Collections of French Tertiary Vertebrata purchased in 

 1851-52, the Archseopteryx purchased in 1862, the Van Breda 

 Collection of Maastricht and other fossils purchased in 1871, 

 and the Forsyth Major collection of Lower Pliocene Mammalia 

 from Samos purchased in 1889-90. Even the Arctic Regions 

 are well represented by fossils collected by the Nares expedition 

 in 1875-76, by the McCormick Collection bequeathed in 1890, 

 and by the Spitzbergen fossils obtained by Dr. J. W. Gregory 

 during the Conway Expedition in 1896. 



During recent years many classic collections made by British 

 palaeontologists have been acquired by the Department of 

 Geology. Among these are the Egerton and Enniskillen 

 Collections of fossil Fishes; the Leeds Collection of Oxfordian 

 Reptilia ; the Davidson Collection of Brachiopoda ; the Brodie 

 Collection of fossil Insects ; the Nicholson Collection of Stroma- 

 toporoids ; the Williamson Collection of Carboniferous Plant- 

 sections ; and the Rufford Collection of Wealden Plants ; 

 besides several others of less extent. 



