Miscellaneous — Major John Plant. 287 



at Birmingbam, a paper on " The Discovery of Fossiliferous Keuper 

 Sandstones at Leicester," ■whicli were thenceforth included as a 

 distinct stratum in the maps of the Geological Survey. 



Doubtless, this scientific taste was fostered by the favourable 

 opportunities offered for geological work in the neighbouring classic 

 area of Charnwood Forest, which presents enigmas yet awaiting 

 satisfactory solution. In addition to his scientific pursuits, he found 

 time to cultivate a knowledge of the fine arts, attaining to some 

 skill in drawing under his friend, the late Mr. B. R. Haydon. In 

 1846, he was appointed Secretary and Librarian of the Permanent 

 Library, Leicester, where he re-arranged and catalogued 10,000 

 volumes; and in October, 1849, he became Curator and Chief 

 Librarian of the Peel Park Museum, in which connexion his 

 labours have become so widely known. The story of the Peel Park 

 Museum, which, since the opening in 1849, has gradually grown to 

 be one of the largest establishments of its kind in the country, is 

 also the story of Mr. Plant. Under his direction, and with the aid 

 of generous munificence, it has developed into one of the principal 

 attractions of the busy centre to which it belongs. The library now 

 contains some 60,000 volumes, in place of the 5000 with which it 

 started, and is provided with a handsome reading room. The rooms 

 in which the scientific exhibits are displayed are numerous and well 

 adapted to their purposes ; while the art galleries include the great 

 Langworthy Gallery, occupied with marble statues and fine oil 

 paintings of the modern English and French schools. Mr, Plant's 

 varied training had specially fitted him for the management of an 

 institution of such complex character ; and now, in its enlarged 

 proportions, altogether beyond the satisfactory control of any one 

 man, there is abundant evidence of his extensive knowledge and 

 skill — signs which only the educated eye can appreciate at their full 

 meaning. 



It is, however, principally to Geology and Palaeontology that Mr. 

 Plant has given his attention. In 1851 he became a member of the 

 Manchester Geological Society, of which he is now the oldest livino- 

 member; and in 1864 he was elected a Fellow of the Geological 

 Society of London. About 1870, he began to make a special study 

 of the Coal-measure Fishes in the neighbourhood of Manchester, 

 and his extensive collection has formed the basis of important 

 researches by Dr. R. H. Traquair, of Edinburgh. Several of the 

 species have been named after Mr. Plant. In the Geology of North 

 Wales he has for many years taken a deep interest, especially in the 

 Cambrian fossils found in the locality of Dolgelly. The whole of 

 his collection from this district has been formed under circumstances 

 which make the specimens almost unique, and a selection of the 

 typical forms has been deposited in the British Museum. The type 

 specimen of Olenus Planti, named by Mr. Salter and also described 

 by Professor M'Coy in Sedgwick's Catalogue of the Woodwardian 

 Museum, Cambridge, is included in the series. We understand that 

 Mr. Plant is still engaged on researches in the Geology of the South 

 West Coast of Anglesea, the progress of which will be greatly 



