Historical and Type Collections. 95 
been the first, in this country, to discover and teach the identifi- 
cation of strata, and to determine their succession by means of 
their imbedded fossils.” 
In June, 1882, the Government of H.M. King William the 
Fourth awarded Mr. Smith a pension of .-£100 a year, but he 
only enjoyed it for seven years, as he died 28 Aug. 1839. 
In 1835 the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon Mr. Smith 
by the Provost and Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin; but 
perhaps the highest compliment paid him was that by Sedgwick, 
who rightly named him “ the Father of English Geology.” 
The bust above the case which contains William Smith’s 
collection is a copy of that by Chantry surmounting the tablet 
to his memory in the beautiful antique church of All Saints, at 
Northampton, where his remains lie buried. 
We come next to a collection, the very name of which 
betrays the antiquity of its origin. It is known as “ Sowerby’s 
Mineral Conchology.” 
This collection was begun by Mr. James Sowerby, prior to 
1812, and continued by his son, Mr. James de Carle Sowerby, 
F.L.S., during the preparation of their great work entitled, 
“ The Mineral Conchology of Great Britain,” which appeared in 
parts, between June, 1812, and December, 1845, and forms a 
work of six volumes octavo, illustrated with 648 plates. 
The value of this work consists in the fidelity and accuracy 
of the figures given, and also that most of the specimens drawn 
were here named and described for the first time. They comprise 
fossils from all parts of England and from every Geological 
formation. 
The small green labels mark the specimens actually figured 
in the Avork. The Collection was purchased by the Trustees of the 
British Museum from Mr. J. de Carle Sowerby, January, 1861. 
It may be interesting to record that many of the latter parts 
were illustrated by plates drawn by the late Mr. J. W. Salter, 
A.L.S., F.G.S., for so many years palaeontologist to the Geological 
Survey. When a youth, Salter was apprenticed to Mr. J. 
de Carle Sowerby, F.L.S., who was at that time both a naturalist 
and an engraver. The youthful apprentice afterwards married 
his master’s daughter, and became, as is well known, one of the 
most brilliant palaeontologists in this country. 
Another curious but small series represents the “ types ” or 
“ figured specimens ” of “ Konig’s leones Fossilium Sectiles.” 
This illustrated work, on miscellaneous fossils in the British 
Museum, was prepared by Mr. Charles Konig, the first Keeper 
of the Mineralogical and Geological Department, after its 
separation from the General Natural History Collections in 
1825. 
The engravings are rough, but characteristic, and the first 
“ Century ” (or 100 figures of fossils), is accompanied by descrip- 
Gallery, 
No. 11. 
William 
Smith. 
Sowerby’s 
Mineral 
Concholog-y, 
1812-45. 
Table-cases, 
Nos. 10, 11, 
12, and 
Wall-case, 
No. 5. 
Konig-'s 
leones, 1825. 
Table-case, 
No. 16. 
