s 



valuable reports on remarkable localities published in the annals of the 

 Survey. This labour is not, however, at an end, and we can assist in it, 

 but we can likewise assist the department as to those portions of the Sur- 

 vey already completed. 



Let us take the case of a mine which has been sunk in Cornwall or South 

 Wales since the Geological Map of the district had been published. This 

 may afford us most important evidence as to the extent of strata or of a 

 fault, their constituents, and the lodes that run through them. Even a 

 fresh artesian well driven through the stata of the London basin is sure to 

 give some new facts as to the thickness of the strata, and may illustrate 

 some phenomenon of importance in relation to the geology of the locality. 

 Wherever by mines, wells, or quarries, inlets are made to the inferior for- 

 mations, we get at new and valuable facts — valuable still if the observa- 

 tions confirm our deductions from superficial indications, while the discovery 

 of new fossils in a district has a material influence on its geological classi- 

 fication ; for as we get a wider knowledge of the phenomena of the earth, 

 so by the comparison of fossils we are better able to determine the rela- 

 tions between the members of a series. A formation found to be fossili- 

 ferous, which was supposed to be non-fossiliferous, or one found on fur- 

 ther research to present fossils in different proportion from that assumed 

 on hasty or partial examination, will obtain a different place in our maps 

 and our records. 



The Ordnance Survey, large as is the space its sheets occupy when 

 joined together, is still too small for us when we come to examine local 

 phenomena, when even in one field many soils are to be found, and where the 

 substratum, which is of importance, may be found at various depths, of 

 uncertain thickness, and of modified conditions. In the mountain regions 

 of Wales and Scotland, which have not been subjected to minute explo- 

 rations, many facts have to be gleaned by further enquiry in the process of 

 time, and this we find to be the case even with regard to Cornwall, where 

 the energy of men of science, and the ardour of the speculators, have 

 caused constant surveys to be carried on ; yet who will dare to say what 

 the depths of Cornwall may still tell us, or what further resources may be 

 made available from the heaps of attle refuse on the surface, and from the 

 unexplored regions below. 



A very striking proof of the manner in which geological facts are still 

 gathered is afforded by an announcement at the last Manchester Geolo- 

 gical Society, by Mr. E. W. Binney, the President, that within the fore- 

 going fortnight he had been surprised to find lias in the neighbourhood of 

 Carlisle, as geologists had lost sight of it between Cheshire and the Clyde. 

 What he had seen probably extended over an area of 10 or 12 square miles, 

 between the Maryport Railway and the Port Carlisle Railway, and was 

 covered with a great deal of drift. 



In order to promote these enquiries, and to obtain a better knowledge 

 of the subject, this Association has the power to do much, and, fortunately, 

 without imposing any burthen upon its pecuniary resources, for our sub- 

 scription is small — enough to work out our plan, to provide rooms, offices, 

 the expenses of correspondence, a library, a museum, and printing; still it 

 may here be observed that our resources will prove larger than the mere 

 amount of the subscriptions. Take, for instance, our museum ; its chief 

 value will not depend on our expenditure, but on contributions ; so, too, 

 our library of books and maps will be chiefly provided by donations and 

 bequests, leaving us to find the room, the librarian, the binding, and cur- 

 rent expenses. From time to time subscriptions will be raised among the 

 wealthier members for special pnrposes ; by and by we shall be able to 

 fund our life subscriptions, and many years will not have elapsed before 

 we have a considerable property, and are in a position to ensure the per- 

 manent existence of the institution. The object here proposed, so far from 

 requiring funds from us, will bring us resources by inducing many public- 



