1855.] 



THE ANTIQUITIES OF CANUSIUM. 



263 



leaving which he entered the army, but in a little lime he resigned the 

 profession of arms for the pursuits of science, thus resembling another 

 great geologist. Sir R. JIurchison. 



He gave himself up to the study of Geology, and made it the busi- 

 ness of his life.* In 1817 he became a member of the Geological 

 Society, then in the tenth year of its existence. 



The year 1819 was spent by Mr. De la Beche in an examination of 

 the geological formations of Switzerland and Italy, and his zealous 

 prosecution of similar inquiries led to his being elected in that year a 

 Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1820 a paper by Mr. De la Beche, 

 ' On the Temperature and Depth of the Lake of Geneva,' the result of 

 a most careful examination, was published in the Edinburgh Philoso- 

 phical Journal. In his geological investigations of the British rocks 

 the Rev. Wni. Conybeare, now the Dean of Llandaff, was, to some 

 extent, connected with Mr. De la Beche ; and his first communication 

 to the Geological Society was the joint production of these two geolo- 

 gists, — announcing the discovery of a new fossil animal of the Saurian 

 family, in the lias limestones of Bristol, which they named, as being 

 distinctive of its species, the Plesiosaurus. From this time the name 

 of De la Beche became closely connected with the science of the day. 

 Many valuable papers were communicated to the Geological Society, 

 including an elaborate account of the Geology of Switzerland ; the 

 Fossil Plants found at the Col de Balme, near Chamouny; a commu- 

 nication on the Geology of the Coast of France ; and several papers 

 on the Geology of various districts in the British Isles, — especially of 

 Southern Pembrokeshire, of Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire, and of Beer in 

 Devonshire. 



Jlr. De la Beche possessed extensive estates in Jamaica. He now 

 visited his property, — Halse Town, in the neighbourhood of Spanish 

 Town, — and on his return, in 1825, he communicated to the Geological 

 Society his remarks on the geology of that West Indian island, of 

 which nothing had been known previously. 



Between 1827 and 1830, Mr. De la Beche published numerous 

 important Geological papers in the Transactions of the Society, the 

 Philosophical Magazine, and the Annals of Philosophy, and also a 

 tabular proportional view of the superior, supermedial, and the medial 

 rocks. In 1830 his first book, 'Geological Notes,' appeared ; and in 

 the same year, ' Sections and Views of Geological Phenomena.' Great 

 skill in the use of the pencil enabled the author to furnish the whole 

 of the drawings for these works, and to them all subsequent illustra- 

 tors have been indebted. ' The Geological Manual' was published in 

 1831, and was speedily translated into French and German, — becoming 

 a text-book for geologists throughout Europe, and passing through 

 several editions. In 1832 Mr. De la Beche proposed to the Govern- 

 ment to supply the data for colouring geologically the maps, then in 

 progress of publication, of the Ordnance Trigonometrical Survey. 

 This oifer was accepted, and at the Land's End, in Cornwall, was 

 commenced the great work of this eminent geologist's life. Mr. De 

 la Beche, who bore himself the greater part of the expense of the 

 Geological Survey of Cornwall, devoted several years to a careful 

 investigation of all the conditions, lithological and mineralogical, of 

 Western England ; and he published a series of Maps of Cornwall, 

 Devonshire, and Somerset, which exhibited a correctness and detail 

 such as had never before been attained. This Survey was fairly estab- 

 lished under the Ordnance. " It was," — says Sir Henry De la Beche, 

 in his Inaugural Discourse, delivered at the opening of the School of 

 Mines, on the 6th of November, 1851, — "It was while (in 1885) con- 

 ducting the Geological Survey then in progress, under the Ordnance, 

 in Cornwall, that being forcibly impressed that this Survey presented 

 an opportunity not likely to recur, of illustrating the useful applica- 

 tions of geology, I ventured to suggest to Mr. Spring Rice (now Lord 

 Monteagle), then Chancellor of the Exchequer, that a collection should 

 be formed, and placed under the charge of the Office of Works, contain- 

 ing specimens of the various mineral substances used for roads, in con- 

 structing public works or buildings, employed for useful purposes, or 

 from whicli useful metals were extracted, and that it should bo arranged 

 with every reference to instruction ; as by the adoption of this course 

 a large amount of information, which was scattered, might be con- 

 densed, and those interested be enabled to judge how far otir known 

 mineral wealth might be rendered available for any undertaking they 

 are required to direct, or may be anxious to promote, for the good or 

 ornament of their country." Being supported in this rccommcudation 

 the nucleus of the Museum of Practical Geology was formed. 



In 1848, the honour of knighthood was bestowed on the Director of 

 the Geological Survey ; and in addition to this honour, in 1853 Sir 



* See Athenceum for April 21st, 1855. 



Henry De la Beche was elected, by the suffrages of forty-seven mem- 

 bers. Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of Paris. 

 The Order of the Dannebrogg was bestowed on him by the King of 

 Denmark ; and he received the Order of Leopold from the King of the 

 Belgians. 



Beyond the works and papers which we have enumerated, Sir Henry 

 De la Beche published a voluminous report on the ' Geological Survey 

 of Cornwall, Devonshire, and West Somerset,' ' Researches in Theore- 

 tical Geology,' and ' How to Observe.' In the various joui-nals will 

 be found forty papers and memoirs ; and in 1851 Sir Henry De la 

 Beche completed his last work, ' The Geological Observer,' founded 

 upon his former work ' How to Observe.' In all these productions 

 will be discerned a minuteness of detail and an excellence of illustra- 

 tion which mark the rare union of a skilful scientific observer and a 

 finished illustrative draughtsman. 



Although paralysis was seen by his anxious friends to be slowly but 

 surely spreading its fatal influences over his once energetic frame, Sir 

 Henry De la Beche would not allow himself repose. The labours of 

 the Geological Survey and the business of the Museum engaged his 

 attention daily, — and even two days before his death he spent several 

 hours in the Museum directing the business of that establishment with 

 his usual acuteness, although then powerless to move himself. 



Sir Henry De la Beche raised for himself a splendid memorial of his 

 talents and his zeal, and he created for the public an establishment 

 which cannot but prove eminently useful, if it be carried onward in 

 the spirit and with that well defined idea — which has been the creative 

 power and the sustaining influence — under which the Museum of 

 Practical Geology and the School of Jlines were formed and have been 

 supported. 



Mr. Greenough, born in 1778, and consequently seventy-seven when 

 he died, was educated at Cambridge and Gottingen, and served in 

 Parliament for the borough of Gatton. But he made no great figure 

 in the House of Commons. His genius was a genius for map-making, 

 not for speeches and legislation ; and the records of his zeal which 

 remain to tell posterity of his useful labours .are 'The Geological Map 

 of England and Wales,' the map of ' Hindustan,' and the ' General 

 Sketches of the Physical Features of British India.' Ho was on a 

 journey to the East, in hopes of collecting materials for new maps, 

 when he died at Naples ; and it is understood that he has left behind 

 a vast accumulation of materials, some of which will doubtless be 

 available for the press. 



Mr. Greenough had a great reputation among men of science, with- 

 out being very widely known to the British public. Slore than thirty 

 years ago he published his one volume, ' A Critical E.xamination of the 

 First Principles of Geology.' Addresses and discourses to scientific 

 Societies followed from time to time ; but not with that persistence of 

 assault by which literary fame can alone be carried. Yet was Mr. 

 Greenough considered by English Geologists as the leader of their 

 band, and he was one of the founders and was the first President of 

 the London Geological Society. 



Tlic Auti<iuitlc9 of Cauttsliuu. (.\piilia.) 



The tomb which has most recently been brought to light has much 

 of an Oriental character, as the doors narrow towards the top. The 

 colour of the ground is of a dark red and blue. The chamber fiicing 

 the entrance appears to have been devoted to the chief of the family, 

 whilst the lateral ones were occupied by the women ; and there, on 

 beds of bronze, decorated with ivory statuettes and other ornaments, 

 were found female skeletons. All that beauty, all that wealth ever 

 gave could not save them from the universal lot. The ground was 

 covered over with gold thread, which Signor Bonucci supposes to bo 

 the remains of a golden carpet or cloth ; whilst round the walls were 

 disposed more than forty vases, of various though graceful and 

 elegant shapes. In some patera; of an enormous size, eggs and other 

 eatables were found, as also the dregs of some liquids. In harmony 

 with the idea that the deceased would resume [he habits of this life in 

 another world, the skeletons bear upon them the traces of the most 

 magnificent dresses. The principal female figure, for instance, was 

 found with ear-rings representing two peacocks, not merely in shape but 

 in every tint : the colour of the plumage being given by smalt upon 

 gold. Golden bracelets of a serpent form suiToundcd dry bones, round 

 which once beat the pulses of passion. Her vest must evidently have 

 been embroidered, for garlands of myrtle, both the leaf and the berry, 

 were found in gold, and all are clearly pierced with the boles by whicli 



