10 



beneath the smouldering grate, without finding material for delight- 

 ful study and most instructive observation ? In the Magnesian 

 Limestone and New Red Sandstone we are less likely to be in- 

 volved in difficulty on this score. But in the Lias and the Oolite 

 — rich in treasures of all kinds — the hoe and the rake must be un- 

 sparingly used, or our cabinets will soon get overrun with weeds. 

 The Wealden will not overcrowd us ; and should we obtain the en- 

 tire head of an Iguanodon, we shall not object to find a place for it. 

 The chalk, though so abounding in stores of fossil wealth, will be 

 less difficult to deal with than many other formations, as regards type 

 specimens ; for no one can mistake its most characteristic and beau- 

 tiful group — the Ventriculitis, or the more marked forms of its 

 representatives among the oysters, chambered-shells, and star-fish, — 

 not to mention now any other of its very beautiful forms. The Ter- 

 tiary, in its so markedly different layers, with its own fruits and its 

 shells and its mammals, as well as its numerous forms related to the de- 

 nizens of the earlier earth, will give more trouble j while the highly 

 interesting Diluvial Beds which overlie it, are rich in an abundance 

 from which we shall, however, with less difficulty, be able to select 

 a few to serve as types. Be the difficulties which we shall thus 

 altogether encounter what they may, our hope is, that we may be 

 able, by degrees, to form a Cabinet which shall be truly typical in 

 its character ; and our intention is, that, while we give the means 

 of constant intercommunication between observers in different parts, 

 and so promote the exchange of specimens between our members, 

 what we retain, as the property of the Association, shall be limited 

 to groups that will always be instructive. 



I am happy to be able to say— and I hope that this will be 

 accepted as an acknowledgment of several communications — that we 

 have already received, from distant Members of this Association, 

 offers of sets of fossils that will illustrate several of the main For- 

 mations. 



It is our belief that every member will, from time to time, come 

 across facts that will be interesting to the others ; and that, by the 

 unconstrained statement of these at our meetings, and recording 

 them on our printed minutes, comparisons may be made, by actual 

 workers in the field, that will equally throw light upon a correspon- 

 dent's questions, and instruct all those who are desiring to get at 



