Sections B and. C. 



PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 



THK DTSCOVEIMES OF ECONOMIC [MPOKTANCE MADE 

 BY THE ALKANT PIONEERS. 



By E. H. L. Sciiw vi;z, A.R.C.S., F.C.S. 



Tu lisiug to arldress the meeting of tlie South African Association 

 foi- the Advancement of Science as president of the section which in- 

 cludes Geology, I feel overwhelmed with a sense of regret that the 

 men who first made geology known in South Africa, and who — most 

 of then\- lived either in Grahamstown itself or in the neighbouring 

 Eastern Piovince towns, should have li\ed their lives without an 

 c>pi>ortunity, such as we are enjoying to-day, of gathering together 

 and discussing the favourite subject of our science. What a list, 

 stretching ttver nearly a hundred years I Some, perhaps, are merel}^ 

 names now to the general public, but others are still remembered as 

 men who laboured to increase the sum of our knowledge, our con- 

 %enience and our wealth, and all of them strenuous workers in 

 a liitherto barren field- Bain, Atherstone, Jamieson, Shaw, Stow, 

 Smith, Baines, Rubidge, Mackay, Gre}', Pinchin, Eraser, Gilfillan, 

 Goodger, Barber, Kannemeyer, Brown, Dunn — the last four happilv 

 still with us : for the rest, Sed vox nou voids melificatis apes. We 

 inherit the benefits they secured for us, and this surely is an occasion 

 to record in some manner our appreciation of their services. To keep, 

 however, my address within reasonable bounds, I must pick out some 

 chaiacteristic f>f their work, and as the section of this Association 

 which includes geology has been joined this year with that of mining, 

 T have chosen as my subject "The Mineral Discoveries of Economic 

 Importance made by the Albany Pioneers." 



The name that leaps to every one's mind in this connection is that 

 (>f I>r. W. G. Atherstt»ne, and, before everything, it is only right and 

 proper that an appreciation of this remarkable man should be made in 

 this sectii>n of this Association in Grahamstown. His strenuous life I 

 have been enabled to follow year by year in 155 closely written note- 

 books dating back to 184H, wliich were placed at my disposal by his 

 son Mr. G. I). Atherstone, one of our \ice-presidents. If I ani able to 

 convey to you some conception of the nature of this great man, as it 

 has been revealed to me, I shall feel that an initial step has been 

 made towards a full recognition of his merits, wliich will some day be 

 accorded him. 



Dr. Atherstone was born in 1814 in Nottingham, where he could 

 remember possessing a pet Iamb which was slaughtered prior to setting 

 out for South Afi-ica in IS! 7. The ship, the Uitcnhwie Fdcket, how- 



