72 Notices of Memoirs—Mr. Horace B. Woodward’s Address— 
NWOoOTICHS OF DE WoOLES- 
Appress DELIVERED TO THE NoRWICH GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY BY THE 
RETIRING Presipent, Mr. Horace B. Woopwarp, F.G.S., 
NovemBer 41H, 1879. 
After referring to recent pakeontological investigations that bear 
upon the geology of Norfolk, Mr. H. B. Woodward proceeded as 
follows :— 
Leaving now the subject of organic remains, the collection of 
which possesses a peculiar charm in itself, I pass on to note a few 
points in physical geology, in the study of which it is not always 
easy to kindle and maintain an interest. This leads me into my own 
more particular branch of investigation, and opens up the question, 
often asked me during my rambles across country, ‘‘ What is the use 
of the Geological Survey ?” I shall not take up your time by attempt- 
ing an elaborate answer to this. In each county geology may have 
different economic applications, and it is hardly a fair answer to tell 
the Norfolk agriculturist the value of maps and sections in mining 
districts, when he questions their practical value in his own county. 
My colleague, Mr. F. J. Bennett, has, however, lately taken up the 
subject, and in an essay read before the Ixworth Farmers’ Club,’ has 
called attention to the relations of the Geological Survey to agri- 
culture. The object of the Survey is to portray on maps (the 
Ordnance Survey Sheets being used) the superficial distribution of 
the various strata or subsoils. In Norfolk these comprise Chalk, 
and several kinds of gravel, sand, loam, clay, and marl. Such 
deposits are classified according to their relative ages; and this is an 
essential point, because any one understanding their order of super- 
position, and mode of occurrence, can form a very good idea (from 
the geological map) of the strata likely to be met with in opening a 
pit or sinking a well. In short, the map is an index to the under- 
ground arrangement, and its applications in reference to economic 
deposits are at once apparent. 
While brick-yards and lime-works mark the principal manufac- 
turing industries connected with the geology of Norfolk, it is to its 
agricultural capabilities that the county is specially indebted. And 
in this respect, indeed, it stands almost unrivalled among English 
counties.’ Hence it may be felt that it is with the soils, even more 
than with the subsoils or beds beneath, that a great part of the 
population is chiefly concerned; and at first sight the bearings of 
geology upon agriculture seem limited. Nevertheless, looked at in 
a large way, the rural economy of the country is directly influenced 
by the geology—partly from the character of the rocks themselves, 
partly from the physical features which have resulted from them. 
Thus the older rocks of the north and west of England, rising in 
rugged hills and mountains, with comparatively little soil, support a 
herbage suitable for sheep. The new red rocks, the Liassic and 
Oolitic clays, form pasture land, and upon them the dairy farms 
1 Published at Diss, 1879. ? Lincolnshire is said to stand pre-eminent. 
