Stratigraphical System of Organized Fossils: With Reference to the Specimens of the Original Geological Collection in the British Museum: Explaining ... the British Strata (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

William Smith

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1331979862 ISBN 13: 9781331979869

Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2018

Synopsis

Excerpt from Stratigraphical System of Organized Fossils: With Reference to the Specimens of the Original Geological Collection in the British Museum: Explaining Their State of Preservation and Their Use in Indentifying the British Strata

This novel and interesting description of near seven hundred species of Fossil Shells, Zoophites, and other organized Fossils, found in England and Wales, and collected in identification of the Strata, refers particularly to the specimens of a geological collection deposited in the British Museum. On the specimens, Roman capitals mark the genus, - the figures, 1, 2, 3, &c. refer to the species, -and the small letters, a, b, c, &c. to the localities or sites in the Strata.

This copious reference to the stratum which contains the Fossils, to the particular site therein whence obtained, and to the individual specimens of the collection, which is intended to be publicly exhibited in the British Museum, seemed to render figures of them unnecessary; especially as reference is constantly made to another work of the Author's now publishing by Mr. Sowerby, which consists chiefly of engravings; and as further reference is likewise made to the numerous figures of Sowerby's Mineral Conchology.

It is hoped, and confidently expected, that this method of combining the stratified and systematic arrangement of Fossil Shells, &c. will comprise all the information respecting them which can be required, either by the curious Conchologist or by the most attentive investigator of the Strata. Lamarck's system, which is an extension and improvement of that of Linnæus, has been preferred, as most applicable to the arrangement of organized Fossils; of which the species and even genera are sometimes not without difficulty determined. His more particular attention to the form, muscular attachment, and other striking characters apparent in Fossils where the hinge cannot often be observed, better enables the Mineral Conchologist to distinguish the generic and specific characters of those numerous organized Fossils which are merely casts of the inside of the shell, or of the animal which inhabited it. As this country abounds with numerous species which cannot be arranged under any of the genera given by M. Lamarck, new genera have been formed by Sowerby, Parkinson, and others, which are herein adopted and referred to: reference is likewise made to most of our old authors on the subject.

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About this title

Book Description

William Smith (1768-1839) was a civil engineer and canal surveyor who pioneered the concept of stratigraphy. This volume, first published in 1817, contains Smith's catalogue of his fossil collection for the British Museum. Smith catalogues the fossils according to rock strata, providing a practical demonstration of his stratigraphic system.

About the Author

1822?-1872

Edition details

• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1331979862
• ISBN 13: 9781331979869
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 139