112 Geological Society of London. 
The flinty shells of which we are speaking although hard are very 
fragile, breaking like glass, and are therefore admirably adapted 
when rubbed for wearing down into a fine powder fit for polishing the 
surface of metals. It is difficult to convey an idea of their extreme 
minuteness, but I may state that Ehrenberg estimates that in the 
Bilin tripoli there are 41,000 millions of individuals of the Gazllo- 
nella distans in every cubic inch of stone. At every stroke there- 
fore of the polishing stone we crush to pieces several thousands if 
not myriads of perfect fossils. 
Gentilemen,—Although I have already extended this address be- 
yond the usual limits, I cannot conclude without congratulating you 
on the appearance of Dr. Buckland’s Bridgewater Treatise, a work 
in the execution of which the author has most skilfully combined 
several distinct objects. He has briefly explained the manner m 
which the materials of the earth’s crust are arranged, and the evi- 
dence which that arrangement affords of contrivance, wisdom, and 
foresight. He has also given us a general view of the principal facts 
brought to light by the study of organic remains; thus contributing 
towards the filling up one of the greatest blanks which existed in the 
literature of our science, while at the same time he has pointed out 
the bearing of these phenomena on natural theology. 
He has shown that geology affords one kind of testimony perfectly 
distinct from natural history, of the adaptation of particular means 
and forces to the accomplishment of certain ends for which the 
habitable globe has been framed. ‘These proofs are illustrated in 
the author’s chapters on the origin and mechanism of springs, on the 
distribution of metallic and other minerals in the earth, and the posi- 
tion of coal in stratified rocks. In reference to these points it is de- 
-monstrated that some even of the most irregular forces have produ- 
ced highly beneficial resuits, in modifying the subterranean economy 
of the globe. But I shall not dwell on this part of the Treatise, but 
pass on at once to that which constitutes the body of the work, and 
which relates to palzontology. 
In considering this department, the number and variety of objects 
which offer themselves to the naturalist are so great, that the choice 
was truly embarrassing. Dr. Buckland has judiciously selected a 
few of the most striking examples from each of the great classes of 
organic remains, and when speaking of extinct animals, has explained 
the method by which the anatomist and physiologist have been able 
to restore the organization of the entire individual, by reasoning from 
