127 
the construction of public works in consequence of their being 
undertaken without an adequate knowledge of geological 
researches before the works were actually begun. They have 
gone through strata which never ought to have been pene- 
trated, and unfortunately missed other portions of the 
country where they might have constructed such large works 
at far less expense and with much greater rapidity of 
execution. It is evident, therefore, that not only is geological 
investigation an interesting subject of itself, but it is one which 
really commends itself to the minds of practical men as being 
a mode of saving money. It is an important thing that the 
dividends of those who choose to invest in these concerns 
should be made, and that their money should not be recklessly 
thrown away, as it is anything but pleasant to find that large 
sums have been spent which might have been saved, had the 
works been carried out according to the best rules of science. 
The third paper was to have been on the subject of the 
''Runic Inscriptions of Northumbria." This paper will be 
printed although it will not be read. That would have been 
an interesting paper for us to have listened to, because, 
curiously enough, the introduction of Christianity proved 
fatal to the existence of these Runic monuments. I believe 
that it was the Gothic Bishop Gulphialas or Ulphialas, of 
Sweden or Xorway, who was supposed to have noticed that 
character; and it was mainly owing, as I believe, to the 
introduction of the Christian religion that those interesting 
and ancient inscriptions were destroyed and rendered so 
difficult to decipher. And they are difficult to decipher 
because of the extraordinary way in which the characters 
meander about the stones, instead of following the modern 
rules of writing either among ourselves or the Eastern 
nations ; consequently, it becomes difficult to understand 
which way they are to be read, or in fact how they are to be 
deciphered. The other papers relate to the discovery of 
