: 
lxiv REPORT—1857. 
of organic beings in the different sedimentary rocks, according to the order 
of their superposition ; to discuss the question of their appearance or disap- 
pearance, whether simultaneous or successive; and to determine the nature 
of the relations which subsist between the existing organic kingdom and its 
anterior states.” The prize was obtained by Professor Bronn, of Heidelberg ; 
and his memoir, of which I have only seen an outline, appears to be cha- 
racterized by views at once sound and comprehensive. The leading result 
seems to be, that the genera and species of plants and animals, which geology 
proves to have existed successively on our globe, were created in succession, 
in adaptation to the existing state of their abode, and not transmuted or 
modified, as the theory of Lamarck supposes, by the physical influences which 
surrounded them. 
I must now pass from the results of science to the administrative measures 
which have been adopted by this Association for its advancement, and more 
especially to those which will be brought under your consideration at the 
present Meeting. 
One of the modes in which this Association most effectively promotes the 
advancement of Science is, you are aware, by the preparation and publication 
of Reports on the history, and actual state, of its several branches. With 
the help of these, original investigators may, with little labour, ascertain all 
that has been accomplished in each department, before they proceed to in- 
crease the store; and so not only prepare their own minds for their task, but 
also avoid the waste of time and toil which has been too often incurred in 
the re-discovery of the same truths. 
To further the same objects, it was proposed by Professor Henry, of 
Washington, at the Glasgow Meeting of the Association, that a Catalogue of 
papers occurring in the Transactions of Scientific Societies, and in the 
Scientific Journals, should be prepared by the Association, the Smithsonian 
Institution undertaking to execute that part of the work which related to 
American Science. A Committee, consisting of Mr. Cayley, Mr. Grant, and 
Professor Stokes, was appointed to consider this proposal, and their Report 
was submitted to the Cheltenham Meeting. The subject has since been under 
the consideration of the Council of the Royal Society; and a preliminary 
Report has been drawn up by a sub-Committee of that body, which will 
probably be brought before your Committee at this meeting. 
A still more important question has been, for some years, under the con- 
sideration of this Association and the Royal Society—the question, namely, 
whether any measures could be adopted by the Government, or Parliament, 
that would improve the position of Science or its cultivators in this country. 
The Parliamentary Committee of the Association have taken much pains 
in the attempt to arrive at a solution of this large and complex question. 
They consulted, in the first instance, several of the most eminent scientific 
men of this country ; and in their first Report, presented to the Meeting of 
es 
