254. 
depend a good deal on the accurate knowledge of the geo- 
logical formations out of wliicli the stone was gathered. 
Huddersfield was a great manufacturing district, and they 
drew very largely from the products of the coal-measures of 
other parts of the Riding, and an intelligent knowledge of 
what these coal-measures consisted, and what was the origin 
of the article which they used so freely, must be of very great 
value to every one in the neighbourhood. Taking it as a 
general thing, he had found great interest shown in all 
matters of scientific education ; and the ceremony of laying 
the foundation stone of the new buildings for the Yorkshire 
College, which had taken place at Leeds the day previously, 
was a very good example of the increased interest in scientific 
learning and knowledge. After some further observations, 
the Chairman concluded by calling upon the Secretary to read 
the minutes of the previous meeting. 
ON THE OCCURRENCE OF VERMICULITE IN ENGLAND. 
BY GEORGE H. PAUKE, F.L.S., F.G.S., ETC, 
That the discovery of a mineral new to Britain cannot 
fail to be of interest to geologists, is my apology for bringing 
the matter before the members of this Society to-day ; but 
my desire is not so much to record the discovery as to obtain 
the help of those interested in geology in elucidating the 
geographical distribution of the mineral in question. The 
district of Furness, in North Lancashire, is rich in glacial 
debris, and it was during a field-day amongst the Boulder 
clay, on Walney Island, that the Yermiculite was first found 
by my friend Mr. C. E. Manby. 
Walney is a small island separated from Barrow by a 
narrow channel, fordable in some places at low water, and 
very probably at one time formed a portion of the mainland. 
