October 3, 1907] 



NA TURE 



569 



THE CENTENARY OF THE GEOLOGICAL 

 SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



UNDER the presidency of Sir Archibald Geikie, 

 K.C.B., the celebration of the centenary of the 

 Geological Society of London has been carried out 

 with conspicuous success. While the proceedings 

 throughout were characterised by an air of dignified 

 gravity, a feeling of quiet enthusiasm pervaded the 

 meetings. On no previous occasion have so many 

 illustrious geologists been gathered together from all 

 quarters of the globe, and a noteworthy feature in the 

 assemblv was the presence of many women who have 

 achieved distinction in the pursuit of geology. 



.Mthough the actual date of the foundation of the 

 society was November 1,3, 1S07, it was necessary to 

 hold the centenary meetings a little in advance of the 

 actual birthday, in order to suit the convenience of the 

 foreign members and correspondents, as well as the 

 visitors from abroad and from all parts of the British 

 Isles, who have university duties that commence in 

 October. 



The apartments of the Geological .Society at Bur- 

 lington House had undergone a great transformation. 

 Easy-chairs and lounges, curtains and floral decor- 

 ations served to make attractive the otherwise sombre- 

 looking chambers. The council room, with its historic 

 geological portraits, was set apart for the ladies. The 

 museum, usually so desolate, was the principal recep- 

 tion-room, and it became a busy and animated scene 

 where conversation and writing were seasoned with 

 the fragrant odour of tobacco. Exhibits of certificates 

 of membership of some of the great geological masters, 

 early MSS. and published maps, and other documents 

 of interest were displayed in cases or suspended from 

 the walls. For all these arrangements so happily car- 

 ried out, the society was indebted to the indefatigable 

 labours of Prof. Watts and Prof. Garwood, the secre- 

 taries, to Mr. Belinfante, assistant secretary, and the 

 other permanent officials, and to Mr. F. W. Rudler. 



Thursday, September 26, was fixed for the main 

 centenary proceedings, and the fine meeting-room of 

 the Institution of Civil Engineers was courteously 

 placed at the service of the society for the reception 

 and the president's address. At n a.m. the delegates 

 were received in the alphabetical order of their coun- 

 tries, and it was arranged that one representative only 

 of each country should speak. Space will neither 

 permit of the insertion of a full list of the delegates 

 who came, nor of any record of the eloquent and warm- 

 hearted remarks with which they accompanied their 

 presentations of the addresses of congratulation to 

 the president. It was to be regretted that no time or 

 opportunity could be given for the display of these 

 elaborate and beautiful documents, but no doubt a 

 special exhibition of them will be made at some future 

 meeting of the society. 



Austria-Hungary was represented by Dr. Tietze, 

 director of the Imperial Geological Survey; the Argen- 

 tine Confederation by Prof. Aguirre, of the L'niversity 

 of Buenos Aires; Belgium by M. Mourlon, director of 

 the Geological Survey ; Denmark by Dr. Steenstrup ; 

 Egypt by Capt. Lyons, director cif the Geological 

 Survey; France by Prof. Gosselet, Prof. Barrois, and 

 Prof, de Lapparent; Germany by Prof. Zirkel, Prof. 

 Credner, and Prof. Rothpletz ;' Greece by Prof. 

 Skouphos; Holland by Prof. Wichmann and Dr. 

 Molengraaf ; Italy by Prof. Hughes (who spoke in the 

 absence of Prof, de I.orenzo) ; Japan by Prof. Omori ; 

 Mexico by Dr. .Aguilera, director of the Geological 

 Surve\'; Norway by Prof. Brogger, and Dr. Reusch, 

 director of the Geological Survey; Portugal by Prof, 

 de Lima ; Russia by Dr. Tchern'yshew, director of the 

 Geological Survey, Prof. Pavlo'w, Prof. Loewinson- 

 NO. 1979, VOL. 76] 



Lessing, and Dr. Sederholm, director of the Geological 

 Survey of Finland; Sweden by Prof. Nathorst and 

 Dr. Gunnar Andersson, director of the Geological 

 Survey ; Switzerland by Prof. Heim and Prof. Baltzer ; 

 Inited States by Dr. Hague, Prof. Iddings, and Prof. 

 Morris Davis; Canada by Prof. .Vdams ; India by Mr. 

 La Touche ; South Africa by Mr. Rogers and Dr. 

 Hatch; Australia by Prof. Hill and Mr. Johnston; 

 New Zealand by Mr. Denham. 



Numerous delegates represented the universities, the 

 scientific societies, institutions, and field-clubs of 

 Great Britain and Ireland, and on their behalf Prof. 

 Sollas and Prof. Hughes made brief remarks, the 

 latter speaking in Latin the address of congratulation 

 from the University of Cambridge. Mr. A. B. Kempe 

 represented the Royal Society, and Lord Avebury the 

 Society of Antiquaries. 



An interesting incident was the award to Sir A. 

 Geikie of the gold medal of the Institution of Mining 

 and Metallurgy, which was handed to him by Mr. 

 C. J. Alford, in recognition of the services rendered 

 by the Geological Society to the mining industry. 



In the afternoon the president delivered his address 

 on " The State of Geology at the Time of the Found- 

 ation of the Geological Society." He dwelt especially 

 on the important aid towards the foundation of the 

 science of geology given by Guettard and Desmarest 

 in France, by Werner in Germany, by Hutton and 

 Jameson in Scotland, and by William Smith in Eng- 

 land. The results of their labours gradually attracted 

 more and more attention, as did also the controversies 

 that arose between the followers of Werner and 

 Hutton, the one school (the Neptunists) attributing 

 too much to the influence of water, the other (the 

 Plutonists) attributing too much to the agency of heat. 

 Thus it came about that a number of earnest studen*^s 

 well versed in mineralogy determined to meet together 

 and gather facts in illustration of the new science of 

 geology. In due course they established the Geological 

 Society of London, to the origin and history of which 

 reference has already been made in the pages of 

 N.\TURE (September 26, p. 537). G. B. Greenough, 

 one of the founders, was the first president, and his 

 geological hammer with a whalebone handle was ex- 

 hibited by a relative, Mrs. Bowen-Colthurst, of Drip- 

 sey Castle, co. Cork. To this interesting relic Sir 

 Archibald Geikie directed brief attention. 



In the course of his address he pointed with pride to 

 the publications of the society, and concluded by ex- 

 pressing the opinion that they might with confidence 

 look forward to a career in the future not less success- 

 ful and useful than that which they were now met to 

 celebrate. 



A hearty vote of thanks to the president, proposed by 

 Prof, de Lapparent, was seconded by Prof. Rothpletz. 



In the evening a brilliant assembly gathered in the 

 Whitehall Rooms of the Hotel Metropole for the 

 official banquet. The company numbered 291. The 

 president was supported by two veteran geo- 

 logists, on his right Prof. Gosselet, and on his left 

 Prof. Zirkel. It is noteworthy that not a single peer, 

 baronet, or bishop was present among the fellows of 

 the society or its guests. A brief grace was said by 

 Prof. Bonney, hon. canon of Manchester, and the 

 company then proceeded to the consideration of the 

 menu. The card was illustrated by portraits of 

 Greenough, the first president, and of Sir Archibald 

 Geikie, but, curiously enough, the date of the meeting 

 was printed 1908 instead of 1907. The toasts were 

 taken without interruption at the conclusion of the 

 dinner. Those of the King and of the heads of 

 foreign States were proposed by the president. Then 

 followed the Geological Society of London, proposed 

 by Prof, de Lapparent, with response bv the president; 



