330 Reports & Proceedings — Geological Society of London. 



KIEDPOIRTS -A^HSriD IFIELOOIEIEIDIlSra-S- 



Geological Society of London. 

 May 16, 1917.— Dr. Alfred Harker, O.S., President, in the Chair. 



A lecture on " British Geological Maps as a Record of the Advance 

 of Geology" was delivered by Thomas Sheppard, M.Sc, E.G.S. He 

 observed that geological changes were in many cases indicated on old 

 topographical maps ; consequently, very old plans and charts were 

 of use in connexion with geological inquiries, although not strictly 

 geological in character. Some examples of maps, dating from 

 Elizabethan times, were exhibited, and they showed that in the 

 Humber area great changes had taken place : in certain districts 

 large tracts of land had been denuded, and many towns and villages 

 had disappeared ; in others, large stretches of reclaimed land marked 

 places where water once stood. So long ago as 1595 writers were 

 familiar with lithological differences in various parts of the country, 

 and in 1683 Martin Lister read to the Royal Society a paper in which 

 he definitely suggested " A Scheme for the Mapping of Soils and 

 Rocks ", wherein he mentioned the various kinds of rocks that 

 occurred in Yorkshire ; but his scheme was not actually carried out 

 until a century later. Strachey (1719) and Packe (1743) produced 

 some remarkable geological sections and plans. 



The first systematic series of maps, illustrating the geological 

 features of the counties, was issued in the Reports of the old Board 

 of Agriculture, and dated from 1793 to 1822. These reports usually 

 contained " soil-maps" of the counties described, upon which chalk, 

 sandstone, limestone, peat, marl, gravel, etc., were shown by colours 

 and shading. William Smith was certainly familiar with these 

 "Agricultural Surveys", and doubtless they provided him with 

 information that assisted him in the preparation of his great map of 

 the geology of England and Wales, issued in 1815. 



One of the earliest and most serious attempts to prepare geological 

 maps was by Professor Jameson, who read a paper in 1805 " On 

 Colouring Geognostical Maps" (Wernerian Nat. Hist. Soc, vol. i, 

 published 1811); but the enormous number of complicated signs and 

 symbols that he suggested proved unsuitable for practical purposes, 

 although there were many good features in his colour scheme. 



The first strictly geological map (now in the Society's possession) 

 was apparently that made by W. Smith in 1799, showing the 

 geological structure of the Bath District. This had been proved by 

 the lecturer to have been coloured on a plan originally issued in The 

 New Bath Guide of 1799. The first geological map of England and 

 Wales was a small one, also by Smith, and it was presented to the 

 Society by "the Father of English Geology" when the first 

 Wollaston Medal was awarded to him in 1831. The lecturer dis- 

 cussed the history of the various maps and sections published by 

 Smith, and described two hitherto unknown maps (of the counties of 

 Durham and Northumberland) by the same author, in the Society's 

 possession. He also exhibited one of the Scarborough district, found 

 whilst he was cataloguing the Society's maps ; all trace of th : s 



