5i8 



NATURE 



{Sept. 27, 1888 



ments belonged, and I accepted the post, hoping to render a 

 public service, not, perhaps, sufficiently considering the difficulties 

 that I should have to encounter, and the amount of time that 

 would have to be devoted to it. 



A permissive Act naturally implies that there is some one in 

 the country who desires to make use of it ; whereas, as a fact, 

 no owner has voluntarily offered any monument to be put under 

 the Act, except one to whom I shall refer again presently : all 

 have had to be sought out and asked to accept the Act, and of 

 the owners of scheduled monuments the larger number have 

 refused. 



Sir John Lubbock was chiefly instrumental in passing the Bill 

 through Parliament, although in the condition in which it 

 actually passed it was not his Bill. He had proposed to make 

 the Act compulsory in the case of some of the more important 

 monuments, but the proposal had been overruled on the ground 

 of its being an improper interference with private ownership. 



Being a member of the Liberty and Property Defence League, 

 I have lately received a list of fifty-five measures which have 

 been brought before Parliament in the session of 1888, which 

 that body have thought it desirable to oppose on account of their 

 interference with private property, nearly every one of which 

 would have dealt more hardly with the owners of property than 

 the Ancient Monuments Act would have done had it been made 

 compulsory. But all these measures have been proposed by 

 members of Parliament with the view of catching the votes of 

 particular constituencies, whereas the ancient monuments have 

 no votes to give and very few people to vote for them. Sir 

 John Lubbock, finding that the Act in its approved stage was 

 purely permissive, and not believing, as he told me at the time, 

 that anyone would voluntarily make use of it, naturally being 

 unwilling to put his own prop erty at a disadvantage, by being 

 the only person to come under it, at first refused to include his 

 own monuments, and it was only after I had obtained others, 

 and success appeared probable, that he consented to put Silbury 

 Hill under the Act. 



Finding myself involved in the matter, I have done what I 

 could to work it out, and with some success. 



(To be continued.) 



THE INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL 

 CONGRESS. 



'THE fourth session of the International Geological 

 -*• Congress began on Monday evening, September 

 17, in the theatre of the University of London, Burling- 

 ton Gardens ; meetings were held throughout the week, 

 and the session was formally closed on Saturday, 

 September 22. In another form and in different places 

 the Congress may be regarded as continuing throughout 

 this week, for five excursions have been organized to 

 various parts of England ; those to North Wales and the 

 Isle of Wight are largely attended, whilst smaller numbers 

 have gone to East Anglia, to East Yorkshire, and to West 

 Yorkshire. 



At the opening meeting on Monday evening the Council 

 was chosen as follows :-■ Hon. President : T. H. Huxley. 

 President: J. Prestwich. Past Presidents : G. Capellini, 



E. Beyrich. Vice-Presidents : Germany, K. von Zittel ; 

 Australia, *F. Liversidge ; Austria, M. Neumayr; Belgium, 

 G. Dewalque ; Canada, T. Sterry Hunt ; Denmark, *M. 

 Johnstrup ; Spain, J. Vilanova-y-Piera ; United States, P. 

 Frazer ; France, A. de Lapparent ; Great Britain, W. T. 

 Blanford, A. Geikie, *T. McK. Hughes ; Hungary, J. von 

 Szabo ; India, *H. B. Medlicott ; Italy, F. Giordano ; 

 Norway, H. Reusch ; Holland, K. Martin ; Portugal, J. 



F. N. Delgado ; Roumania, G. Stefanescu ; Russia, A. 

 Inostranzeff ; Sweden, O. Torell ; Switzerland, E, Rene- 

 vier. General Secretaries : J. W. Hulke, W. Topley. 

 Secretaries : C. Barrois, C. Fornasini, C. Le Neve Foster, 

 C. Gottsche, A. Renard, G. H. Williams. Treasurer : 

 F. W. Rudler. Other Members of the Council : T. G. 

 Bonney, A. Briart, E. Cohen, *H. Credner, *E. Dupont, 



J. Evans, W. H. Flower, A. Gaudry, J. Gosselet, M. von 

 Hantken, W. Hauchecorne, A. Heim, *J. Hooker, A. 

 Issel, J. W. Judd, *R. Lepsius, C. Lory, *A. Michel-Le'vy, 

 T. Macfarlane, O. C. Marsh, E. von Mojsisovics, J. 

 S. Newberry, S. Nikitin, *R. Owen, A. Pilar, F. von 

 Richthofen, T. Schmidt, D. Stur, T. Tschernicheff, E. 

 Van den Broeck, C. O. Walcott. (Those marked * were 

 not present at the meeting.) 



The President then delivered his address in French. 

 An English translation of this has already appeared in 

 Nature. The meetings commenced each morning at 10.30, 

 and lasted till about I o'clock. Meetings of the Council 

 were held each morning at 9.30. The proch-verbai of 

 each meeting both of Council and Congress was printed, 

 and was placed in the hands of members at the opening 

 of the succeeding meeting. At various times meetings 

 of the International Commissions on Nomenclature, and 

 the Geological Map of Europe, and of various Committees 

 appointed by the Council, were also held. 



In the afternoons there were visits to the British 

 Museum, in Bloomsbury, and to the Natural History 

 Museum, South Kensington ; also to Kew, Windsor and 

 Eton, Erith and Crayford. In the evenings there were 

 three receptions : on Monday, by the President of the 

 Congress, in the library of the University, fitted up as a 

 temporary Geological Museum ; on Wednesday, by the 

 Director-General of the Geological Survey, in the 

 Museum of Geology, Jermyn Street ; on Friday, by the 

 President of the Geological Society, in the rooms of that 

 Society. 



Three invitations for the fifth meeting of the Congress 

 in 1 891 were received from America — from Philadelphia, 

 New York, and Washington. Philadelphia was chosen. 

 A Committee of American geologists was appointed to 

 take such steps as it thought necessary to make the 

 arrangements for this meeting. The Committee consisted of 

 Messrs. J. Hall, Dana, Newberry, Frazer, Gilbert, Hunt, 

 Marsh, and Walcott. 



The general opinion is that the Congress was a com- 

 plete success. So far as members go, this is evidently 

 the case, as it was more largely attended than any 

 previous meeting, both by home and by foreign geologists. 

 As regards the number of members inscribed from the 

 country in which the Congress meets, it is not easy to 

 make comparisons, because many join as members who 

 have no claim to be considered geologists. No doubt 

 this was more largely the case in London than at any 

 previous meeting. But the numbers of foreign visitors 

 may fairly be compared, and may be taken as affording a 

 sufficient gauge of the relative importance of each meet- 

 ing. These stand as follows: Paris (1878), no; Bologna 

 (1881), 75 ; Berlin (1885), 92 ; London (1888), 142. 



The success of such a gathering may, however, be 

 reckoned on other lines, and here opinions on the subject 

 may differ. Those who hold that the first duty of such a 

 Congress is to formulate rules and to fix nomenclature 

 may well feel some disappointment ; for although excellent 

 discussions took place, and the general feeling was often 

 evident, no formal vote on any such subject was taken. 

 It was generally felt that votes from such mixed as- 

 semblages have no value. They can only carry weight when 

 taken on some fixed principle, not dependent upon the 

 accidents of place and nationalities which vary from time to 

 time as the Congress meets in different countries. A Com- 

 mittee was formed to consider this matter. To its report, 

 and to the general results of the Congress, we shall refer 

 again next week. But upon one point there can be no 

 difference of opinion : that is, the immense advantage 

 resulting from the meeting together of men from different 

 nations, engaged in similar pursuits, who can personally 

 discuss subjects upon which they are at work. The friend- 

 ships thus formed bear fruit long after the dicussions and 

 votes of the formal meetings are forgotten. 



