PROCEEDINGS 
OF THE 
GEOLOGICAL AND POLYTECHNIC SOCIETY 
<8f tfje UXt$t fttomg of ¥orfe$f)tre, 
AT THE FORTY- FIRST MEETING, HELD IN THE MUSIC SALOON, 
WAKEFIELD, ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7TH, 1855. 
Henry Briggs, Esq., in the Chair. 
The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said he did 
not expect to be called on to take the chair, till he saw his 
name in print in the notice of the meeting. There were 
several Papers to be read, and he hoped some discussion 
would take place on them, as generally had been the case. 
He was so unaccustomed to preside at a meeting of this 
nature that his first impression was to have pleaded a pre- 
vious engagement, but on second thoughts felt that such a 
course would have been in a manner suicidal, as he should 
have missed the gratification of hearing the Papers read, 
while at the same time it would have been like abandoning 
his own offspring, since he had been the first originator of 
the Society. He had proposed at a meeting of coal masters 
that they should meet and discuss the strata of their neigh- 
bourhood. This was the origin of the Society, which was 
at first merely a technical Society, confining its objects to 
one particular branch of scientific research. Afterwards it 
had been thought best to extend the terms and objects of the 
Society, and the name Polytechnic had therefore been added 
