.lS-i<5.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



315 



because they are founded on data equally new and original. Italy has also to a great ex- 

 lent been presonfed to us in its true general geological facies, through the labours of 

 Sismonda, Marmora, Pareto, and others; whilst our kinsmen of the far Wfst have so 

 ably developed the structure of their reBpective Statea, that our countrymen Lyell has 

 informed us, that the extelient map which accompanies his work upon Nurth America is 

 simply the grouping togeihtT of data prepared by native State geologists, which he has 

 paralleled with our well-known British types. 



If then the astronomer has, to a vast extent, expounded the mechanism of the heavens ; 

 if lately, through the er^at telescope of our associate the Earl of Rosse, he has assigned 

 a fixity and order to bodies which were previously viewed as mere nelmUe floating in space, 

 and has also inferred that the surface-cavities in our nearest neighbour of the planetary 

 system are analogous to the volcanic apertures and depressions of the earth ; the geolo- 

 gist, contributing data of another order to the great storehouBe of natural knowledge, has 

 determined, by ibsolute and tangible proois, the precise manner in which our planet has 

 been successively enveloped in divers cerements, each teeming ^vith peculiar forms of 

 distinct life, and has marked the revolutions which have interfered with these successive 

 creations, from the earliest dawn of living things to the limits of the historic sera. In 

 short, the fundamental steps gained in geology, since the early days of the British Asso- 

 ciation, are si remarkable and so numerous, tliat the time has now coine for a second 

 report upon the progress ot this science, »vhich may I trust be prepared for an approach- 

 ing, if not for the next meeting. 



Intimately connected with these broad views of the progress of gaology is the appear- 

 ance of the first volume of a national work by Sir Henry De la Beche aiul his associates 

 in the '* Geological Survey of Great Britain." Following, as it does, upon the issue of 

 numerous detailed coloured maps and sections, which for beauty of execution and exact- 

 ness of detail are unrivalled, I would specially direct your attention to this new volume 

 as affording the clearest evidence that geology is now strictly brought within the pale of 

 the fixed sciences. In it are lound graphic descriptions of the strata in the south-west of 

 England and South Wales, whose breadth and length are accurately me isurcd, wliose 

 mineral changes are cheniicallv analysed, and whose imbedded remains are compared and 

 detftmined by competent pakeontologists. The very statistics of the science are thus 

 laid open, theory is made rigourously to depend on facts, and the processes and produce 

 of foreign mines are compared with those of Britain. 



When we know how intimately the Director-General of this survey and his associates 

 have been connected with the meetin^js of the British Assoc ation, and how they have 

 freely discussed with us many parts of their researches — when we recollect that the geo- 

 logist of Yorkshire, our invaluable Assistant General Secretary, around whom ail our 

 arrangements since our origin have turned, and to whom so much of our success is due, 

 occupies his fitting place among these worthies— that Edward Forbes, who passed as it 

 were from this association to the iE^can, is the pal;t?ontolo^ist of this sur\'ey ; and again 

 when we reflect, that if this association had not repaired to Glasgow, and there discov- 

 ered the merits of the survey of the Isle of Arran by Mr. Ramsay, that young geologist 

 would never have become a valuable contributor to the volume under consideration — it is 

 obvious from these statements alone, that the annual visits of our body to ditferent parts 

 of the empire, by bringing together kindred spirits, and in testing the natural capacity of 

 individuals, do most etlectnally advance science and benefit the British community. 

 Whilst considerint; these labours of the government geologists, I shall now specially 

 speak of those of Professor E. Forbes in the same volume, because he here makes him- 

 self doubly welcome, by bringing to us as it were upon the spot the living specimens of 

 submarine creatures, which through the prai<!eworthy enthusiasm of Mr. McAndrew, one 

 of our members, who fitted out a large yacht for natural-history researches, have been 

 dredged up this summer bv these naturalists from the southern coast, between Lund's 

 End and Southamnlon, As a favourite yachting port like Southampton may, it is hoped, 

 afford imitators, I point out with pleasure the liberal example of Mr. McAndrew, who 

 not professing to de'icribe the specimens he collects, has on this, as on former occasions, 

 placed them in the hands of the members best qualified to do them justice, and is thus a 

 substantial promoter of science. 



The memoir of Edward Forbes in the Government Geological Survey is, in truth, an 

 extension of his views respecting the causes of the present distribution of plants and 

 animals in the British Isles, first made known at the last meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion. As this author has not only shown the anplication of these ideas to the researches 

 of the British Geological Survey, but also to the distribution of animals and plants over 

 the whole earth, it is evident that these views, in great part original, will introduce a new 

 class of inquirifs into natural history, which will link it on more closely than ever t > geo- 

 logy and geography. In short, this paper may be viewed as the first attempt to explain 

 the caases ot the zoological and botanical feat:ires of any region anciently in connexion. 

 Among the new points which it contiius, I will now only mention that it very ingeniously 

 (and I think most satisfactorily) explains the origin of the peculiar features of the botany 

 of Britain— the theory of the origin of Alpine Floras distributed far apart — the peculiar- 

 ity of the zoology of Ireland as compared with that of England — the presence of the 

 same species of marine animals on the coasts of America and Europe— the specialities of 

 the marine zoology of the British seas called for by this Association— tlie past and present 

 distribution of the great ilediterranean Flora; — and, lastly, it applies the knowledge we 

 possess of the distribution of plants to the elucidation of the superficial detritus, termed 

 by geologists, the " Northern Urift." 



Amid the numerous subjects for reflection which the perusal of this memoir occasions, 

 I must now restrict myself to two bridf comments. First, to express my belief that even 

 Humboldt himself, who has written so much and so admirably on Alpine Fioras, will 

 admit that our associate's explanation of the origin of identity removes a great stumbling- 

 block from the path of botanical gecgraphfrs. Secondly, having myself for some years 

 endeavoured to show that the Alpine glacialists had e-roneously applied their views, as 

 founded ou terrestrial phenomena, to large regions of Northern Europe, which must have 

 been under the sea during the distnbution of erratic blocks, gravel, and boulders, I can- 

 not but consider it a strong confirmation of that opinion when I find so sound a natural- 

 ist as E iward Forbes sustaining the same view by perfectly independent inferences con- 

 cerning the migration of plants to isolated centres, and by a studious examination and 

 comparison of all the sea shells associated with these transported materials. And if I 

 mistake not, my friend Mr. Lyell will find in both the above points, strong evidences in 

 support of his ingenious climatical theories. Recent as the blocks and boulders to which 

 I have alluded, may seem to be, they were however accumulated under a glacial sea, 

 \vhose bottom was first raised to produce that connexion between the Continent and Bri- 

 tain, by which the lantl animals migrated from their parent East to our western climes; a 

 connexion that was afterwards broken through by the separation of our islands, and by 

 the isolation in each of them of those terrestrial races which had been propagated to it. 

 This latter inference was also indeed tliorouijhly sustained by the researches of Professor 

 Owen, communicated to this Association : first, in the generalization ijy which his report 

 on the extinct mammals of Australia is terminated, and still more in detailed reference to 

 our islands in his recently published work " On the Extinct Fossil British Mammalid" — 

 a work which he has staled in h'S dedication originated at the call of the British Associa- 

 tion. Professor Owen adds, indeed, greatly to the strength of our present meeting, by 

 acting as the president of one of our sections, which havmg in its origin been exclusively 

 occupied in the study of medicine, is now more peculiarly devoted to the cuiiivation of 

 physiology. Under such a leader, I have a ri^ht to anticipate that this remodelled sec- 

 tion wdl exhibit evidences of fresh vigjur, and will clearly define the vast progress that 

 has been made in general and comparative anatomy since t!ie days of Hunter and of Cu- 

 vier, for so large a pari of which we are indebted to our eminent associate. 



Assembled in a county which has the good foitune to have been illustrated by the at- 

 tractive nnd pleasing history of ihe naturalist of S«lborne, I am confident tbat out fourth 

 Section, to whose labours I wouUl now speciaKy advert, will yield a rich harv^*st, the more 

 bu as It is presided over by that great zoologist who hai enriched the adjacent Mu-euai of 



the Naval Hospital at Haslar with so many animals from various parts of the world, and 

 has so arranged them to as to render them objects well worthy of your notice. The re- 

 port of Sir John Richardson in the last volume, on the Fishes of China, Japan, and New 

 Zealand, when coupled with his account in former volumes of the Fauna of North Ame- 

 rica, may be regarded as having completely remodelled our knowledge of the geographical 

 distribution of fishes; first by affording the data, and next by explaining ths causes 

 through which a community of ichthyological characters is in some regions widely spread, 

 and in others restricted to limited areas. We now know, that just as the lofty mountain 

 is tlie barrier which separates diiferent animals and plants, as well as peculiar varieties of 

 man, so the deepest seas are limits which peremptorily check the wide difl'usion of certain 

 ponera and species of fishes ; whilst the interspersion of numsrous islands, and still more 

 the continuance of lands throughout an ocean, ensures the distribution of similar forms 

 over mauy degrees of latitude and longitude. 



The general study, indeed, both of zoology and botany, has been singularly advanced 

 by the labours of the Section of Natural History. I cannot have acted for many years 

 as your General Secretary, without ohserviiig, that by the spirit in which this section has 

 of late years been conducted, British naturalists have annually become more philosophi- 

 cal, and have given to their inquiries a more physiological character, and have more and 

 moJe studied the higher questions of structure, laws, and distribution. This cheering 

 result has mainly arisen from the personal intimacy brought about among various indi- 

 viduals, who, living at great distances from each other, were previously never congregated ; 

 and from the mutual encouragement imparted by their interchange of views and their 

 comparisons of specimens. IVIany active British natur^dists have in fact risen up since 

 these meetings conimi^nced, and many (in addition to the examples already alluded to) 

 have pursued their sJence directly under the encouragement we have given them. The 

 combination of the enthusiastic and philosophic spirit thus engendered among the natu- 

 ralists has given popularity to their department of science, and this section, assuming an 

 importance to which during our earliest meetings it could show comparatively slender 

 claims, has vigourously revived the study of natural history, and among other proofs of 

 it, has given rise to that excellent publis^Jingbody, the Ray Society, which holds its anni- 

 versary duiing our sittings. Any analysis of the numerous original and valuable reports 

 and memoirs on botanical and zoological subjects which have enriched our volumes is 

 forbidden by the limits of this address, but I cannot omit to advert to the extensive suc- 

 cess of Mr. H. Strickland's report on Zoological Nomenclature, which has been adopted 

 and circulated by the naturalists of France, Germany and America, and also by those of 

 Italy headed by the Prince ot Canino. In each of these countries the code drawn up by 

 the Association has been warmly welcomed, and through it we may look forward to the 

 great advantage being gained, of the ultimate adoption of an uniform zoological nomen 

 clature all over the globe. 



Whilst invastigations into the geographical distribution of animals and plants have 

 occupied a lar=;e share of the attention of our Browns and our Darwins, it is pleasing 

 to see that some of our members, cliiefly connected with physical researches, are now 

 bringing these data of natural history to bear upm climatology and physical geography. 

 A committee of our naturalists, ti» whom the subject was referred, has published in our 

 last volume an excellent series of instructions for the observation of the periodical phe- 

 nomena of animals and plants, prepared by our foreign assoL-iate iVI. QietelJt, the Astro- 

 nomer Royal of iJelgium. Naturalists have long been collecting observations on the 

 eftVcts produced by the annual return of the sea.sons, but tkeir variou'^ natural history 

 calendars being local, required comparison and concentration, as originally suggested by 

 Linnseus. This has now for the first time been executed by the Belgian Astronomer, 

 who followed out a p'au suggested by himself at our Plymouth meeting, h>i3 brought to-, 

 gether the contributions and suggestions of the naturalists of his own country. When 

 M. yuetelet remarks, "that the phases of the smallest insect are bound up with the 

 phases or the plant that nourishes it ; that plant itself being in its gradual development 

 the prodijct, in some sort, of all anterior modifications ot tlie soil and atmosphere," he 

 compels the admission, that the study which should embrace all periodical phenomena, 

 both diurnal and annual, would of itself form a science as extended as instructive. 



R«ferring you to M. Quetclet's report for an explanation of the dependence of the 

 vegetable and animal kingdoms on the meteorology aud physics of the glob?, and hoping 

 that the simultaneous observations he inculcates will he followed up in Britain, I am glad 

 to be able to announce, that ttie outline ofamt;moiron physical geography was some 

 months ago put into my hands by Mr. Cooley, which in a great degree c )inciding vvith 

 the system ot M. Quetelet, has ultimately a very diffijrent object. M. Quetelet chiefly 

 aims at investigating the dependence of organised bodies on inorganised matter, by ob- 

 serving the periodical phenom-na of the former. Mr. Cooley seeks to obtain an acquaint- 

 ance with the same phenomena for the sake of learning and registering compirative cli- 

 mate as an element of scientific agriculture Speaking to you in a county which is so 

 mainly dependent on the produce of the so 1, 1 cannot ha.e a more favourable opportunity 

 for inculcating the value of the suggestions of this British geographer. The complete 

 establishment of all the data of physical geography throughout the British Islands ; i.e. 

 the Tt-gistration of the mean antl extremes of the temperature of the air and of the earth; 

 the amount of conduction, radiation, moisture, and magnetism ; the succession of various 

 phases of vegetation, &c. (with iheir several local corrections for elevation and aspect), 

 must certainly prove conducive to the interests of science, and are likely to promote some 

 material interests of our country. 



A minute knowledge of all the circumstances of climate cannot but be of importance to 

 those whose industry only succeeds through the co-operation of nature, and it may there- 

 fore be inferred that such a report as that with w!iii_h I trust Mr. Cooley will favour us, 

 if followed up by rull and cimplete tables, will prove to beamost useful public document. 

 Imbib ng the ardour of t mt author, I might almost hope that such researches in physit-al 

 geography may enable us to define, in the language of the poet, 



" Et quid quseque ferat regio, et quid quieque recuset." 

 At all eve nts, such a report will tend to raise physical geography in Britain towards the 

 level it has attained in Prussia under the jegis of Humboldt and Hitter, aud by the beau- 

 tiful map s of Berghaus. 



Though our countryman, Mr. Keith Johnston, is reproduc np, in attractive f jrms, the 

 comparative maps of the last-mentioned Prussian author, much indeed still remains to be 

 done in Britain, to place the study of physical geograpliy ou a basis wjrthy of this great 

 exploring and colonising nation ; and as one of the highly useful elementary aids to the 

 training of the youthful mind to acquire a right perception of the science. I commend the 

 spirited project of a French geographer, M. Guerin, to establish in London, ageoirma of 

 vast size which shall teach by strong external relief, tlie objects and details ot which he 

 will in the course of this week explain to the geographers present. 



Reverting to economical views and the improvement of lands. I would remini our 

 agricultural members, that as their great practical Society was founded on the model of 

 the British Association, we hope they will always cone to our Sections for the sulution nf 

 any questions relating to their pursuits to which can be given a purely scientific answer. 

 If they ask for the explanation of the dependence of vegetation upon subsoil or soil, our 

 geologists and botanists are reidv to reply to them. Is it a query ou the comparison of 

 the relative value of instruments destined to economise labour, the mechanic ans now 

 present are capable of answering it. And if, above all, they ask us to solve their doubts 

 respecting the qualities of soib aud the results of their mixtures, or the eliects of various 

 manures upon them, our chemists are at hind. One department of our Institution is in 

 fact styled the Section of Cnemistry and Muieralo^jy, witu their applicati »ns ti Agricul- 

 ture and the Arts, and is officered iu part by the very men, Joansion, Daubeny, and 

 Playfair, to whom the agriculturists have in nearly all cases a*,)pealed. The first men- 

 tioned of these was one of our earliest frien Is and founders; the secon 1 hid the merit of 

 standing by the British Association at its first meeting, and there niviting us to repair lo 

 that great Uuiversiiy wheie he is so mmh respected, and whe-e he is now steadily d-ter- 

 mming, by elaborate (rxperimenls, tfie d--veadeacp of many s lecies oi plants on soils, air, 



