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Geological Letters and Notes. 



Edited by Rev. Matthew Culley of Coupland Castle. 



The following letters on geological subjects from one or 

 two of the foremost geologists of the first half of the 19th 

 century — notably from Mr (afterwards Sir) Roderick Murchison 

 — to my grandfather, Mr Matthew Culley, F.G.S., of Coupland 

 Castle, Northumberland, have hitherto remained unpublished 

 and unknown. These are now oflPered to the members of the 

 Berwickshire Naturalists' Club as a contribution on a subject 

 which falls well within the province of their researches, and 

 of which our Club has at all times furnished learned and even 

 enthusiastic students. 



Mr Matthew Culley was born in Northumberland, in 1786, 

 and was educated in the opening years of last century at 

 St. Peter's College, Cambridge, where he was the contemporary 

 of some of the leading scientific spirits of that period. The 

 Geological Society of London was founded in 1807, and 

 Mr Culley joined the Society at an early period of its existence, 

 being elected a Fellow of the Society in 1825. He was in 

 the habit of residing from time to time in London, w^hich 

 gave him the opportunity of taking part in the deliberations 

 of his fellow geologists at their periodic gatherings, while he 

 did much useful work in his native county, as well as in 

 other parts of England and Scotland. Reference will be 

 found to various fields of research undertaken by him in 

 several of the letters printed below. Tn 1814, he contributed 

 a considerable collection of Minerals from the Cheviot district 

 to the University Geological Collection at Cambridge, reference 



