338 
THOMAS WILLIAM EMBLETON. 
through Mr. Embleton to occupy that position. Dr. Hook gave 
an unhesitating and most cordial approval to the objects of the 
Society. Mr. Embleton's paper dealt with the succession of the 
strata in the Northern Yorkshire Coal Field, as represented in 
the seams of coal in the Townships of Whitwood, Methley, Stanley, 
Wrenthorpe, Lofthouse, Ardsley, Middleton, and Beeston. The 
paper was loaded with information. One interesting fact from 
the colliery under Mr. Embleton's personal supervision may be 
reproduced, as showing the thinning away of sandstone strata. 
Two of the Middleton pits are 300 yards apart ; in one the quarry • 
stone or rock is 16 yards thick, in the other only two yards, although 
the depth from the surface to the first seam is the same at both pits. 
In January, 1840, Mr, Embleton and tw T o colleagues attended 
as delegates a meeting of the Manchester Geological Society, and 
were elected Honorary Members of the Society. The meeting 
discussed and finally accepted, on the proposition of Mr. J. 
Hawkshaw, a scheme for sections of the Lancashire and Yorkshire 
Coal Fields. The decision upon the line of Yorkshire section 
demanded and received very careful balancing of not less than 
three alternatives, the ultimate selection giving a section 25 miles 
in length and comprising between 3000 and 4000 feet of strata. It 
commenced at Northowram and finished in the Barnsley district. 
The portion relating to Bretton, Crigglestone, and Woolley was 
undertaken by Mr. Embleton and Mr. Morton. In December 
1842, these gentlemen had completed their self-imposed labours, 
and the reports of other observers showed that more than one-third 
of the whole section had been finished. The construction of the 
North Midland and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways about 
this period afforded rare opportunities for the inspection of the 
geological features of various cuttings, and many excursions were 
made for this purpose. How greatly this voluntary labour was in 
advance of the action of the State is seen in the long interval before 
the Geological Survey of the West Riding Coal Field was systemati- 
cally commenced (1866-7) under the able superintendence of Professor 
A. H, Green, whose complete report was issued in 1878, and cordially 
acknowledges the valuable assistance derived from the information 
given by colliery owners and other earlier observers. 
