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the moon as seen through this gigantic telescope, and to the 

 discovery of a large number of craters thereon, some of 

 which were as minute as the blunted point of a pin, and 

 as distinct as if cut with a diamond, whilst others had the 

 appearance of being surrounded by walls or rugged rocks, 

 which had probably been formed by the emission of volcanic 

 matter. To give a popular idea of the powers of this in- 

 strument, he would observe that any building the size of 

 York Cathedral, or even less, might be distinctly seen, if 

 there were such a building on the surface of the moon. It 

 was pretty certain that the moon was not inhabited; that 

 there was not even "a man in the moon;" at all events, if 

 it were so, the inhabitants must be pigmies in stature, or 

 altogether of a different nature from ourselves. It was con- 

 cluded also that there was no water on the surface of the 

 moon — no meandering streams or rivers, as in this country — 

 and no extensive lakes, as in America. In short, the surface 

 of the moon presented the appearance of a world in ruins. 

 Such was a brief outline of the discoveries which had already 

 been made, and there were ample grounds for anticipating 

 far greater results than those which had been realised. 



The Venerable Archdeacon Wilberforce moved a vote 

 of thanks to Dr. Scoresby, which was carried unanimously. 



The Chairman next called upon the Rev. W. Thorp, 

 the Secretary to the Society, to read his paper, entitled 



ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE GEOLOGY OF THE YORKSHIRE 

 COAL FIELD. 



He observed that the Coal-field of Yorkshire is one of 

 the largest, and is hitherto less exhausted of its minerals 

 than any other in Great Britain. The towns of Sheffield, 

 Bradford, Leeds, Halifax, Huddersfield, and Barnsley owe 



