Number 3 - Geological Curators Group

POSTSCRIPTTHE ERUDITE GEOLOGIST(With apologies to W.S. Gilbert and geologists everywhere.)1 am the very model of an erudite geologist,I'm both a metamorphic and an igneous petrologist;1 know the common minerals from andesine to cryolite,And have the skills required to tell a limestone from a rhyolite.I'm very well acquainted with the freezing of the liquidusz1 understand the temperature at which the melts ubiquitous;I know the very latest trends of isochron and isotope,I've mastered every facet of the polarizing microscope!I'm very good at sediments and basinal stratigraphy,1 read the writing of the rocks like crystal-clear calligraphy;In short, I'm neither braggart nor a falsely sham apologist,But 1 am the very model of an erudite geologist.l have a thorough knowledge of all matters geochemical,From aqueous solutions to the cyanide systemical;I know the flaws and pitfalls of the methods analytical,Of any slight discrepancy I'm always super-critical.For scientific methods I've remarkable propensity,(I know that gold and platinum have high specific density),I can quote the precious elements from silver to germanium,But know it'snever politic to talk about uranium!I'm keen to bandy language with the budding geophysicist,Of jargon and verbosity I'm quietly a quizzicistBecause I've got the makings of an amateur philologist,And 1 am the very model of an erudite geologist.I've conauered all the Droblems that are classified exolorat'rv.By obseGvation in the field and back in the laborat'r;;The meaning of the outward sign is usually deducible,Resorting to the rigmarole of spatula and crucible.I can pick a new bonanza from a spurious anomaly,1'11 preach on my opinion in a never-ending homily.1 know of ores and aquifers from principles theoretical,I follow the establishment - I've never been heretical.My exploration formula is definitely empirical.1 think that sulphide genesis is nothing but a miracle,And that divining minerals is done by a theologist.1 the very model of an erudite geologist.W.J.L. BrookeFrom Ex-Div Magazine (Western Mining) 1983.From Diana Smith (Norfolk Museums Service) whose sister foundthis in Tasmania.