HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



27 



ous formation. However, he hoped Earl Cadogan 

 would come to the aid of scientific men, and allow 

 the boring to proceed another hundred feet into 

 these interesting Primary rocks. They must re- 

 member that this was the first time the underlying 

 Primary floor had been bottomed in Suffolk, and 

 that a boring through these soft carboniferous shales 

 might be of practical benefit even if coal were not 

 found. He had submitted specimens of these soft 

 shales to analysis by Mr. J. Napier, of the Museum 

 Laboratory, and, as he (the lecturer) anticipated, 

 they were found to contain strong traces of petroleum. 

 It would not be a bad thing if a deep boring 

 through these soft shales yielded petroleum instead 

 of coal. 



What he should like to see was trial-borings a little 

 further to the north of Culford. Taking a line from 

 Southwold through Eye to Mildenhall, he thought 

 that would be the best district along which to make 

 such efforts to reach the upper coal-measures which 

 probably lay synclinally along the northern flanks of 

 these underground primary rocks. He had much 

 faith in the districts of Brandon, Lakenheath, and 

 Mildenhall, because the Memoir of the Geological 

 Survey, so carefully mapped and measured by Mr. 

 Woodward, showed that the oolitic rocks thinned out 

 in that direction, and that very deep borings would not 

 be required, therefore, in order to reach the primary 

 rocks beneath. The most remarkable thing to geo- 

 logists was, that at Culford these oolitic beds were 

 absent. The thinnest set of the overlying beds had 

 been previously bored through at Ware, in Hertford- 

 shire, at a depth of 800 feet, but at Culford the depth 

 was only 650 feet. What they wanted, therefore, in 

 the future, with regard to experiments in search of 

 coal, was to institute a set of borings somewhere in 

 the region he had just mentioned. He should prefer 

 the waste lands about Mildenhall, which now grew 

 nothing but peasants and pheasants, as the site, for if 

 coal could be found there, it would save the sylvan 

 lanes of Suffolk from a destruction, which, however 

 much he valued the importance of coal, he should be 

 sorry to see brought about. 



In conclusion, Dr. Taylor said they must remember 

 that at present this inquiry was in the scientific 

 stage. In any undertakings that might be made for 

 the discovery of coal, he wished it to be distinctly 

 understood that they were scientific experiments. He 

 thought that some might prove successful, but he 

 should be very sorry to have it go forth that the 

 enterprise was as yet, in a purely commercial stage. 

 He had been writing on this subject for nearly twenty 

 years past.' Hitherto, he had piped and nobody had 

 danced : now, there was a tendency to dance too 

 much. Nevertheless, without public support and 

 public spirit, this important inquiry could never be 

 carried on, and he appealed to all patriotic residents 

 in East Anglia for assistance towards a solution of 

 the problem. He was delighted that that night he 



had been honoured with the presence of a wealthy 

 and enterprising English nobleman, known and hon- 

 oured by the English people, and he would venture 

 to ask his powerful aid and influence towards the 

 decision of a question, upon which science was bring- 

 ing to bear the weight of logical facts. In the opinion 

 of the people of East Anglia no current subject was 

 of greater importance than the one he had been 

 privileged to lecture upon that night, and remem- 

 bering how coal had been discovered under similar 

 conditions in France and Belgium, as well as at 

 Dover, he thought that residents in this part of the 

 country could not sit contented with their hands in 

 their laps, without allowing some trial-borings to be 

 made in the manner he had suggested. 

 The lecture occupied an hour. 



At the close, Earl Cadogan, in proposing a vote of 

 thanks to the lecturer, spoke of the eloquent and very 

 interesting manner in which Dr. Taylor had dealt 

 with a subject, which might otherwise had been con- 

 sidered dry, and as President he felt that he might 

 become the interpreter of the audience in thanking 

 Dr. Taylor. He (Earl Cadogan) had never heard 

 the theories and facts of so abstruse and scientific a 

 subject treated in a more interesting manner. Dr. 

 Taylor had made certain points as to strata perfectly 

 clear to his audience. ' Earl Cadogan said he had 

 specimens of the various strata, through which there 

 had been boring at Culford, sent to eminent geolo- 

 gists. He gathered from Dr. Taylor's lecture that 

 the chances of finding coal in the neighbourhood 

 of Culford were somewhat remote, but understood that 

 petroleum might possibly be found beneath his estate. 

 Such a subterranean arrangement was a contingency 

 which hitherto had not presented itself to his mind. 

 He understood from Dr. Taylor's remarks that it 

 was desirable to prosecute boring researches further. 

 Mineral wealth was of the utmost importance in a 

 district like that of East Anglia. If coal was dis- 

 covered in the Eastern counties, undoubtedly the ' 

 wealth of the residents would be much increased, and 

 the prosperity of the kingdom enhanced. He should 

 be glad if such a prospect could be foreshadowed, 

 and might add that although he could not undertake 

 to incur very great expense, yet possibly the boring 

 would be continued some distance further. It was 

 highly desirable a subject so full of interest and in- 

 struction should be continued some extent further. 

 If Dr. Taylor's well-considered lecture proved instru- 

 mental in enlightening the inhabitants of the Eastern 

 counties in the direction indicated, he thought all 

 present would agree that a very agreeable and 

 profitable evening would have been spent. 



A heaTty vote of thanks having been accorded to 

 Dr. Taylor by acclamation, in acknowledging the 

 compliment, he expressed his pleasure in hearing that 

 Earl Cadogan would permit the boring at Culford to 

 be extended 50 to 60 feet further for the benefit of 

 science. 



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