835 
dered the coal more easy of access. Many such instances 
might be adduced, showing how much the population, the 
commerce, and the maritime power of the British empire 
depended upon these provinces of subterranean wealth, 
infinitely more important and valuable than all their colo- 
nies, whether in the East or in the West — provinces, 
which the chances of war could not wrest from them, and 
which required no military array to secure. He begged 
to remind the meeting, that formerly, in many parts of 
England, trials had been frequently made to reach coal 
by shafts sunk through strata, now known invariably to 
occupy an inferior position to the coal measures when both 
were present. How many thousands might have been 
saved, had such a society as this existed some years ago ! 
How often had it happened that a little black slate or a 
piece of lignite had led to futile attempts, at immense loss, 
such as no accomplished geologist would have sanctioned ! 
Look again at the advantages geology afforded in selecting 
building materials. Take for instance the various kinds 
of freestone ; in some, the cementary matter was silicious, 
in others, calcareous, or oxide of iron. They might all 
look the same at the quarry, but in a few years' exposure 
to wind and wet, the difference was evident, either in . 
the colour or porosity of the stone. But he would not 
detain the meeting with observations of this sort. He 
most strenuously recommended that specimens from every 
quarry should be sent to the Museum of this society, as 
well as from every coal pit, so that by collecting inform- 
ation from every quarter, they might glean some useful 
results. In foreign countries, where the capital invested 
in mining was much less than their own, the greatest 
advantao^es had accrued from schools of instruction for 
persons embarking in mining pursuits. The Geological 
Society afforded the best opportunities for improvement 
