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THE GEOLOGIST. 



and brittle. We would ask if any one has observed if the fossil shells in any of our 

 fi-eshwater strata exhibit this difference in thickness and condition between the old 

 and new shell-matter? By this means, where numbers exhibited such peculiarities 

 of growth, we might, sometimes, obtahi a knowledge of the time of year at which 

 the fossil moUusca died, and their entombment in the deposit took place. Such 

 inferences would prove of value. No English work on recent mollnsca is 

 comparable with Forbes and Hanley's " British Mollusca," published by Van Voorst, 

 If th"s work, 1 ovvever, is too costly. Wood's " Index Testaceologicus " is a very good 

 substitute, and Woodward's "Manual of the Mollusca," published by Weale, is 

 an inexpensive but admirable assistant, full of illustrations, and the matter clear, 

 lucid, and correct. This last work is the best book for the student, and contains 

 at pages 17 and 623 full instructions for collecting. The Ammonite-like shells 

 referred to as occurring in the ironstone-nodules of the coal-measures are probably 

 specimens either of Bellerophon or Goniatitc s. We could tell by the transmission 

 of specimens or of gutta-percha casts. 



Peopositiox foe an Association of Amateur Geologists. — " Sir, — I take 

 the liberty of submitting to your consideration for approval, or otherwise, the 

 suggestion of the advisability of young geologists {i.e., young as regards their 

 progress in the science) forming themselves into a society. If you approve of 

 this suggestion, will you be kind enough to give it publicity in the correspondence 

 columns of your periodical ? The best reasons I can adduce in support of this 

 idea are the circumstances of my own case as a solitary student of the science. 

 About four years ago a perusal of Ly ells' " Elements " led me to perceive that 

 geology was nothing less than a study of the physical history of the globe, and of 

 the races that have successively inhabited it. Since that time I have studied the 

 other works of LyeU, and also those of Buckland, Mantell, Miller, Page, Ansted, 

 «&:c. And this amount of theoretical knowledge, with the results of a few 

 rambles in the Thames-basin, and along the sea-coast from Ramsgate to Brighton, 

 is all that I can boast of. I have never been able to meet with a single individual 

 with whom I could exchange a dozen thoughts upon geology. Sometimes, indeed, 

 I have thought that I never should be able to enjoy that pleasure ; but the mere fact 

 of the publication of the Geologist is an evident proof that geology is more 

 generally studied than I thought it was. Besides, my circumstances are such as 

 to prevent me, not only from obtaining such works as Murchison's " Siluria 

 Agassiz's " Poissons Fossils," &c., but also from taking long journeys, or spending 

 much time in the country. There are also many maps which I should like to study 

 but which I cannot afford to buy. Now, Su', I doubt not there are many young men 

 in London whose individual cases in many respects resemble mine, and were we 

 to form a society, meeting at stated periods, we could compare notes, give account 

 of our rambles, examine one another's fossils and minerals, exchange duplicates ; 

 whilst the subscriptions would purchase maps and books such as individually we 

 could not obtain; and in many ways we could be of great assistance to one 

 another. I throw out the suggestion in a very general manner, this not 

 being the pi'oper occasion for entering more minutely into details ; but hoping 

 that the idea itself will meet with your approbation, I am, Sir, yours, W. J. 

 Haywood." — To this proposal for the association of young geologists we are dis- 

 posed to give our assistance, but we should have liked to have placed something 

 more definite before our readers, and for this purpose we wrote direct to the 

 author of the suggestion. From some informality, or incorrectness in the address, 

 our letter has been returned to us from the post-office. We can, therefore, only 

 express our sympathy in the project, and say that we shall be happy to be the 

 medium of communication until definite arrangements are made by the suggester 

 and others for carrying it out. 



Private Collections. — "Dear Sir, — I wish to say, following the example of the 

 Rev. Mr. Brodie and others, that my collection is open to geologists when 1 am not 

 absent from Richmond. It is a general British one, and particularly rich 

 in carboniferous Brachiopoda and Cnnoidea. Of the latter interesting family, L 

 have been again very successful in discovering aiiother new genus, as well as some 

 further new species. I am about leaving for Belgium, to visit my learned friend, 



