54 
THE INDIAN MUSEUM: 1814-1914. 
GEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, 
IN CONNEXION WITH THE 
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA, 
Hastings Street, Calcutta. 
The Government of India having recently sanctioned a considerable 
extension of the “ Museum of Economic Geology for India,” which had 
for some years existed under the careful superintendence of Mr. Pid- 
dington in connexion with the Asiatic Society of Bengal, the attention 
of all who may be interested in the study of Geology, and of all who may 
desire the internal improvement of this country, is solicited to the 
objects of this Institution; and their aid in the promotion of these 
objects is requested. 
In the year 1840, a Museum of Economic Geology for India was 
established, under the sanction of the Honourable the Court of Directors. 
Its objects and aim were clearly set forth in a brief statement drawn up 
by Mr. Piddington, and freely circulated at the time. In conjunction 
with the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and in their Rooms, it grew into some 
importance, and gradually became the depository of many good and 
valuable specimens, illustrative of the mineral wealth of this countr}*. 
But simultaneously with its growth, the Science of Geology itself was 
rapidly attaining its present development. All cognate Sciences were 
spreading their domain, and the results of investigations in each were 
becoming more widely and more largely known. Since then, also, the 
study of Mineralogy, of Geology, and of Chemistry has been introduced 
as a part of the established course of Education, and the practical appli¬ 
cations of these Sciences to Mining and to Engineering generally will 
soon be as regularly taught in this country as they have been for years 
past in Europe. 
The extension of the Museum had become, therefore, essential, if 
it were to keep pace with the -progress of knowledge, and to retain any 
of its value as a means and aid to instruction. With this view, the 
Right Hon’ble the Governor-General in Council has given orders for 
the formation, on a much more extended scale than hitherto, of a general 
geological collection, with a special view to illustrate the geological 
structure, the mineral wealth, and the manufacturing resources of 
this Empire. A commodious house has been rented for the purpose at 
present, and it is intended that abundant accommodation shall be pro¬ 
vided for the Museum in the new building for the University of Calcutta 
when the geological collection will form a portion of the general collec¬ 
tions of Natural History to be connected with that establishment. 
In the Museum now in progress of formation, every thing tending 
to illustrate the geology of this country, in its widest sense, will find a 
place. The history of the Science, the progress of its investigations, 
the nature of its classifications, the phenomena with which it is con¬ 
cerned, the laws of these phenomena, will all be illustrated. The grand 
