Trof. Judd — The Earliest Engraved Geological Maps. 99 



after a fire at Craven Street in 1804 was removed to Buckingham 

 Street, was purchased by the Trustees of the British Museum in 

 1816. It originally consisted of 2,657 specimens, belonging to 693 

 species, collected at 263 different British localities ; and such portions 

 of it as can be identified have been brought together and arranged 

 according to William Smith's original plan in the British Museum 

 (Natural History) at South Kensington, by the pious care of 

 Dr. Henry Woodward. 



It must indeed be confessed that, between the years 1801 and 

 1815, not only did William Smith seem to act as though he were 

 absolutely careless of his claims to priority as a geological investi- 

 gator, but it is difficult to conceive how he -could have adopted plans 

 more calculated to give rise to controversy as to the validity of 

 those claims. 



In 1805 Smith's large and detailed geological map of Somerset- 

 shire was completed and publicly exhibited, and a project was started 

 by Sir John Sinclaii', the President of the Board of Agriculture, and 

 Mr. Crawshay, a warm friend of Smith, to attach the great geological 

 pioneer to the corps of Engineers then commencing the Ordnance 

 Survey of the country : had this been done, the establishment of 

 the English Geological Survey would have been antedated by no less 

 than thirty years. But this project, as well as attempts made by 

 Sir Joseph Banks and other friends to procure the publication of 

 Smith's map by subscription, were doomed to failure. Smith's 

 wandering life, his unfamiliarity with literary work, and his 

 disinclination to engage in it, no less than the constant attraction 

 of field-research, by which he was continually making additions 

 and corrections in his maps, all conspired to render difficult the 

 publication, in a worthy manner, of the great work which he 

 had produced. 



In 1807 Greenough, with the aid of a few mineralogical friends, 

 founded the Geological Society. By that date we are told that the 

 idea of publishing Smith's geological map was so generally recog- 

 nized as having been abandoned, that, among the undertakings 

 recommended to the infant society as especially worthy of its 

 attention, was that of the compilation of a Geological Map of 

 England and Wales. The idea was warmly espoused by the 

 Society, and the work was entrusted to Greenough, by whom the 

 task was commenced in 1808. 



It should always be borne in mind that this work of Greenough, 

 though of great value in itself, was an undertaking of a totally 

 diiferent kind from that of William Smith. Smith was a great 

 original discoverer and creator, and almost every entry on his map 

 was the result of his own personal observation. Greenough, on the 

 other hand, was essentially a clever and an industrious compiler. 

 He received, from the first, valuable assistance from such men as 

 De la Beche, Buddie, Farey, and other geologists ; Aiken contributed 

 a geological sketch of Shropshire, and Fryer one of the Lake 

 District ; while Buckland and Conybeare both made valuable con- 

 tributions to the work. Most important of all was the circumstance 



