| Description | Murchison correspondence: letter from Sir Philip de Malpas Grey EGERTON, Oulton Park, 3 Nov 1835. Re: grateful for Murchison's last letter which has encouraged him to keep doing his geological work despite the horrendous weather; teasingly calls Murchison a 'geological glutton' who appears to be 'poaching' on De la Beche's territory; the Woodwardian Professor [Adam Sedgwick] is in 'dudgeon dire' at finding his 'pig in a poke'; pleased that the pompous Mr Trimmer's fossil tree has proved such a 'cock and bull' and is eager for Murchison to put him in his place, perhaps by calling it 'Pinnis Trimmeri'; had a delightful visit from Louis Agassiz, who is working on fish species of the Lias, Agassiz was pleased with Egerton's findings in the Staffordshire coal field and from Burdie House, and discusses other fossil fish species he has found; hunting. |
| Administrative History | The letter appears to refer to the beginnings of the 'Devonian controversy', when Henry De la Beche found plant fossils traditionally associated with the Carboniferous but found in a lower part of the geological sequence. This would ultimately lead to the delineation of the Devonian system by Roderick Murchison and Adam Sedgwick in 1839. |