36 
given at the opening of the present Museum^ is the correct one. 
“ Mr. Salmond and myself first formed a collection of the Kirk- 
dale hones at our houses, and invited Mr. Thorpe to join us, and 
afterwards our worthy President, the Kev. W. V. Vernon, and 
to his fire and spirit it is owing that the Society has arrived at 
its present state.” Mr. Harcourt possessed advantages for 
carrying out the scheme of a County Society, which neither of 
the others enjoyed. His education at the University of Oxford 
had made him acquainted with Buckland and Conyheare, two 
of the most zealous cultivators of geology. His wide aristo¬ 
cratic connection, and his relation to the Archbishop, gave a 
character to the new institution which it could not otherwise 
have attained. Various provincial cities and towns—Exeter— 
Norwich—Bath—Manchester—Newcastle—Leeds—had been 
the seat of Societies professing exclusively literary objects or 
giving only a secondary place to science. The Yorkshire 
Philosophical Society assumed by its title primarily to represent 
science, and in making the ancient capital of the north the 
centre of its operations, paid only a just tribute to its venerable 
traditions and its position in the yet undivided county. 
The effects of the appeal made to Yorkshire for its support 
were soon visible. 
The Council, in the Report of 1824, announce that the 
Institution had received a support equal to their most sanguine 
expectations; the names of 120 subscribers, in different parts of 
Yorkshire, having been placed on the hooks of the Society, 
and 2000 specimens of minerals and fossils, besides antiquities, 
having been presented to the Museum. For the reception 
of these treasures twelve members had purchased a house 
in Low Ousegate, which the Society tenanted. To illustrate 
the geological collection the Council engaged the Fatlier of 
English Geology, Mr. Wm. Smith, to deliver a course of 
lectures. The selection w^as in itself appropriate, and it had 
an incidental result of the highest importance to the character 
and interests of the Society—the engagement of his nephew, 
Mr. Phillips, as Keeper of the Museum. Very poor indeed 
was the remuneration which it could offer for his invaluable 
services (£60), and even of this, the Society could only provide 
one half, the other being supplied by private subscription. 
