The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21). Volume XIV. The Victorian Age, Part Two. VIII. The Literature of Science. § 44. de la Beche. Another geologist of great eminence was H. T. de la Beche, whose ancestors really did come over with the Normans. His Geological Manual was spoken of, at the time, as the best work of its kind which had appeared in our country; and his Report on the Geology of Cornwall, Devon and West Somerset (1839) is a masterly production. He occupied himself for a long time in making a geological survey of parts of Devon and Dorset on one-inch ordnance maps, and was appointed, in 1832, by government to conduct the geological survey of England, in which position he superintended the erection of the Jermyn street museum.   118