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I am about to give an outline is already well known. Professor 

 Harkness's original memoirs relating to the Geology of the Basin 

 of the Solway rank among some of the most important contributions 

 to geological literature of their time. It is not going too far to 

 say that there was hardly a single branch of geological knowledge 

 relating to that district that he did not directly or indirectly con- 

 tribute to, and contribute in such a way, that the results of his 

 labours have formed a most important part of the foundation 

 whereon all subsequent memoirs relating to the geology of that 

 part have themselves been based. 



He possessed also, a most intimate acquaintance with the 

 topography of a very large area of the same district, and indeed, 

 might fairly have laid claim to have known more about the 

 geological structure, the fossils, the minerals, and the natural 

 features of Cumberland and Westmorland than any one man ever 

 possessed before his time ; or, it may be safe to prophecy, than 

 any one man, even in these days of facile locomotion, will ever 

 possess again. 



Besides what he did in the way of bringing so many parts of 

 our district permanently under the notice of the scientific world, 

 Professor Harkness's connection with Cumberland, which dates 

 back from the year 1849, enabled him to give practical expression in 

 many other ways to the warm interest he felt in everything relating to 

 the advancement of scientific knowledge of any kind. We have 

 good evidence of this in the series of lectures on various subjects 

 that he gave in connection with Mr. Gordon and Mr. Tannahill, 

 in the earlier days of what is now the Penrith Scientific Society. 

 There is no need for me to do more than refer to his readiness in 

 communicating any of the information in his possession to his 

 fellow-workers, whether they were already men of good standing in 

 the scientific world, or whether they were only just beginning to 

 turn their attention to science at all. In this respect his claims 

 upon the regard of men who have since made for themselves names 

 well-known throughout the scientific world have been again and 

 again gratefully acknowledged. 



Deeds speak louder than words it is said, and therefore, instead 



