180 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION C. 



he invented a still more ingenious devicej^" in which the force of the sea- 

 water entering an empty vessel is substituted for electrical power, but unfortu- 

 nately neither the one or the other has actually been tried or even constructed. 



Meantime, however, vertical sections up to 80 cm. (2 ft. 7i in.) of the niud 

 of the deep seas have actually been obtained in iron tubes attached to sounding 

 a.pparatiis employed in the course of the voyage of the Gaussberg. These reveal 

 a succession of deposits of which the lower usually indicate colder water condi- 

 tions than the upper, and have been referred for that reason to the last Glacial 

 Period. 11 



In many places rock fragments are dredged up by fislimg boats. These 

 should of course be used with caution in drawing conclusions as to the distribu- 

 tion of rocks in situ on the sea bottom, as such fragments may iiave been 

 transported when embedded in ice sheets or in ice bergs or other forms of floating 

 ice, or entangled in the roots of floating trees; but where the rock-fragments 

 can be shown to have a definite distribution, as in those described by Grenville 

 Cole and Thomas Crook from the Atlantic to the west of Ireland, '^ and by 

 R. H. Worth from the western portion of the English Channel,'' they may be 

 regarded as affording tnistworthy information as to the geology of the area. 



There seems every reason to believe that advances in submarine geology 

 will not be of only scientific interest, but will bring material benefits with them. 

 Even at present the working of coal seams and metalliferous veins has been 

 extended outwards beyond low-water mark, and, if evidence should be forth- 

 coming that valuable deposits underlie the shallower waters of the North Sea 

 at any point, there is no reason to doubt that mining engineers would find means 

 of exploiting them. It seems quite possible that off the s:hO)res of Northumber- 

 land and Durham there are, in addition to extensions of the neighbouring coal- 

 field, Permian rocks containing deposits of common salt, sulphate of calcium 

 (gypsum and anhydrite), and, above all, potash salts comparable to those at 

 Stassfurt, which have proved such a source of wealth to Germany ._ 



No less important than the work of the Geological Survey is that of our 

 great national museums. I have already alluded to the need for local collections 

 to illustnate the geology of the areas in which they are situated. Themuseums 

 of our larger cities and our universities will naturally contain collections of a 

 more general character, but it is to our national museums that we must chiefly 

 look far the provision of specimens to which those engaged in research can 

 refer for comparison, and it is imperative that they should be maintained in 

 the highest state of efliciency, if the best results are to be obtained from scientific 

 inve.stigations in this country. The ability and industry of the staff of the 

 Mineral and Geological Departments of the Natural History Museum are 

 everywhere recognised, as well as their readiness to assist all those who go to 

 them for information, but in point of numbers they are undeniably insufficient 

 to perform their primary task of examining, descrihing, an-anging, and cata- 

 loguing their ever-increasing collections so as to enable scientific workers to 

 refer to them under the most favourable conditions.'* Even if the staff were 

 doubled, its time would be fully occupied in carrying out these duties, quite 

 apart from any special researches to which its members would naturally wish to 

 devote themselves. The additional expense incurred by the urgently needed 

 increase of the museum establishment would be more than repaid to the country 

 in the increased facilities afforded for research. 



1" ' On the Investigation of the Deep Sea Deposits,' Sci. Proc. Hoy. Duhi. 

 Hoc, vol. xiv. pp. 256-267, 1914. 



11 E. Philippi; 'Die Grund-proben der deutschen Sudpolar Expedition,' 

 1901-3, vol. ii., pp. 416-7 and 591-598. 



12 ' On Rock-specimens Dredged off the Coast of Ireland and their Bearing 

 on Submarine Geology,' Mem. Geol. Surv., Ireland, pp. 1-35, Dublin, 1910. 



" ' The Dredgings of the Marine Biological Association ' (1895-1906) as a 

 contribution to the knowledge of the Geology of the English Channel. — Journ. 

 Marint Biol. Assoc, vol. viii., pp. 118-188. 1908 



" Even the number of skilled mechanics is quite insufficient, though their 

 work is urgently needed. In the Geological Department provision is only made 

 for two, and at present but one is actually at work. 



