308 Notices of Memoirs — The Geological Survey. 



labours. In the Spring of 1835 the Master-General and Board of 

 Ordnance consulted the Professors of Geology in the Universities of 

 Oxford and Cambridge (Buckland and Sedgwick) and the President 

 of the Geological Society (Lyell), as to the expediency of combining 

 a geological examination of the English counties with the geographical 

 survey then in progress. Supported by the strongly expressed 

 approval of these distinguished men, the Treasury agreed to place 

 on the estimates a grant " to defray the additional expense which 

 will be incurred in colouring geologically the Ordnance county- 

 maps." ^ As the sum thus granted amounted to only £300 a year, 

 most of the expense of the mapping still fell upon De la Beche him- 

 self. He also undertook the lion's share of the field-surveys, though 

 he had the occasional assistance of some of the Ordnance surveyors 

 who possessed geological experience. But he had gained the first 

 and fundamental object which he had in view. His enterprise was 

 officially recognized as a national Geological Survey, of which he 

 himself became Director. 



But De la Beche's bold and far-seeing mind had conceived 

 a much more extensive scheme than the preparation of a geological 

 map, and as soon as he felt himself secure in his first step he 

 proceeded to take the next. In the Summer of 1835 he submitted 

 to the Government a proposal that the exceptional opportunities 

 enjoyed by himself and his stalf to collect specimens illustrative of 

 the applications of geology to the useful purposes of life should 

 be taken advantage of, and that such collections, displaying the 

 mineral resources of the country, should be placed in a room or 

 rooms under the Board of Public Works. His plans being 

 eventually accepted, I'ooms were assigned to him for the accommo- 

 dation of the Survey collections in Craig's Court, Charing Cross, and 

 he was asked to carry out his scheme under the control of the Office 

 of AVoods and Forests. Besides the extensive series of specimens 

 gathered together during the mapping of Devon and Cornwall, there 

 was another large assemblage of samples of British building-stones 

 which had been collected by the Commission (whereof De la Beche 

 was a member) appointed to inquire into the most suitable materials 

 for rebuilding the new Palace of Westminster after the burning 

 of the old Houses of Parliament in 1834. The specimens thus 

 accumulated were arranged by De la Beche with refei'ence to 

 the instruction of the public, in illustration of the mineral resources 

 of the country. Materials for making roads, for the construction of 

 public works or buildings, for useful or ornamental purposes in the 

 arts, for the preparation of metals, were grouped in such a way and 

 with such explanatory labels, maps, models, diagrams, and sections, 

 as to convey a large amount of useful information in the most 

 compact and accessible form. In this manner the Museum of 

 Practical Geology took its rise. The collections were in fair 

 working order by the year 1839, though not ready to be opened 

 to the public for two years later. De la Beche was appointed 



^ Proc. Geol. Soc, vol. ii, p. 358. 



