PEEFACE. 
The Geological and Polytechnic Society 
of the West Riding of Yorkshire originated at a 
meeting of the coal proprietors of that district, held 
in Wakefield, on Friday, December 1st, 1837, Thos. 
Wilson, Esq., of Banks Hall, near Barnsley, in the 
Chair. The extent and importance of the Yorkshire 
coal field, comprising not less than 462 square miles, 
and the imperfect information possessed respecting its 
numerous beds of coal and ironstone, having been 
considered, and also that in the winning and working 
of the same a large amount of capital was embarked, 
and extensive machinery and a numerous popula- 
tion employed, it was suggested that great ad- 
vantages would result from the institution of a 
Society for collecting and recording Geological 
and Mechanical Information, with the accuracy and 
minuteness necessary for the successful prosecution 
of mining. These objects, it was hoped, would be 
most effectually attained by the formation of a 
collection of maps, plans, sections, models, mining 
records, and every kind of information respecting 
