1848 GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY ANNIVERSARY 123 



dinner was splendid and the wine not bad. At the 

 Geological afterwards we had a paper by Nicol, 1 the 

 new Secretary, which he read in a monotonous, drawl- 

 ing, school-boy voice, like some of the old scholars I 

 remember at the Parish School at Saltcoats twenty-four 

 years ago. The paper was good enough on the 

 Silurian and part of the Old Red Sandstone of the 

 south of Scotland. Lyell, Salter, Greenough, and I 

 spoke. I rose a little afraid, but got on famously 

 before I had said a dozen words, and, as I was told 

 afterwards, gave great satisfaction to Greenough and 

 some others, who liked the Survey style of treating 

 such subjects. I took good care to clench two things ; 

 first, that on analogous subjects some papers would be 

 read by the Survey ; and, second, giving Selwyn a bit 

 of laudation to the cheering of his heart.' Next day 

 Sir Henry told him at the Museum that he had been 

 ' much pleased with the Geol. Soc. last evening, but 

 said he was afraid I would speak again and remove 

 the good impression made by my first.' 



' i8M February. Anniversary of Geol. Soc. Did 

 not get down from my lecture till after the [Wollaston] 

 medal had been given to, and acknowledged by, Dr. 

 Buckland. Sir Henry's address passed off very well. 

 I sat mostly next Darwin. I was elected a member 

 of council. Anniversary dinner afterwards. Sir Henry 

 did most admirably in the chair, turning off all his 

 speeches excellently. Sedgwick made the best speech 

 of the evening. I was called on to return thanks for 

 the Survey ; Playfair for the Museum. I got on well, 



1 James Nicol, born 1810, died 1879, was appointed Assistant Secretary of 

 the Geological Society in 1847, Professor of Geology, Queen's College, Cork, in 

 1849, and Professor of Natural History in the University of Aberdeen in 1853. 

 His best-known papers are on the structure of the North-West Highlands of 

 Scotland, the great value of which is now universally recognised. 



