TRANSACTIONS OP THE SECTIONS. 105 



in it, as proved by a largely increased demand for oiu- maps and their illustrations, 

 — a demand whicli will, I doubt not, be much augmented by the translation at an 

 early day of many of our field-sui'veyors from the south-eastern and central parts of 

 England, where they are now chiefly employed, to those northern districts where 

 they will be instrumental in developmg the superior mineral wealth of the region. 



The Government School of Mines, an oflshoot of the Geological Sm-vey, is piima- 

 rily intended to fmnish miners, metallurgists, and geological sm-veyors -with the 

 scientific training necessary for the successfid pursuit and progi'essive advancement 

 of the calling which they respectively pursue ; but, at the same time, the lectures 

 and the laboratories are open to all those who seek instruction in physical science 

 for its own sake, by reason of its important application to manufactures and the 

 arts. The experience of ten years has led the Professors to introduce various modi- 

 fications into their original progi-amme, with the view of adapting the school as 

 clearly as possible to the wants of those two classes of students ; and at present, 

 while a definite curriculum, with special rewards for excellence, is provided for those 

 who desire to become mining, metallurgical, and geological associates of the school, 

 every student who attends a single course of lecttires may by the new rules compete, 

 in the final examination, for the prizes which attach to it only. 



Throughout the whole period of the existence of the school, the Professors have 

 given annual com-ses of evening lectures to working men, which are always fully 

 attended, as a part of their regular duty ; and during the past year, several of them 

 have delivered voluntaiy courses of evening lectiures, at a fee so small as to put 

 them within the reach of working men, pupil-teachers, and schoolmasters of primary 

 schools. The Professors thus hope to support to the utmost the gi-eat impulse to- 

 wards the difiusion of a knowledge of physical science through all classes of the 

 community, which has been given through the Department of Science and Art by 

 the Minute of the Committee of Privy Council of the 2nd of June, 1859. 



A body like the British Association for the Advancement of Science should, I 

 conceive, not be unaware of a step of such vast importance, and tending so entirely 

 towards the same goal as that to which its own efibrts have been and still are 

 constantly directed. 



Now, inasmuch as I can trace no record of the teachings of the Government 

 School of ]\Iines in the volumes of the British Association, and as I am convinced that 

 the establishment only requires to be more widely known, in order to extend sound 

 physical knowledge, not merely to miners and geologists, but also to chemists, me- 

 tallurgists, and naturalists, I have only to remmd my audience that this School of 

 Mines, which, owing its origin to Sir Henry De la Beche, has furnished om- colonies 

 with some of the most accomplished geological and mining surveyors, and many a 

 manufacturer at home with good chemists and metaUiu-gists, has now for its lec- 

 turers men of such eminence, that the names of Hofinann, Percy, Warington Smyth, 

 Willis, Ramsay, Huxley, and Tyndall are alone an earnest of our futm'e success. 



In terminating these few allusions to the Geological Survey, and its applications, 

 I gladly seize the opportunity of recording, that in the days of our founder. Sir Henry 

 De la Beche, our institution was greatly benefited in possessing for some years, as 

 one of its leading surveyors, such an accomplished naturalist and sMlfid geologist 

 as the beloved Assistant General Secretary of the British Association, Professor 

 Phillips, who by his labours threw much new light on the palaeontology of Devon- 

 shire, who, in the Memou-s of the Survey, has contributed an admirable Monograph 

 on the Silurian and other rocks around the Malvern Hills, and who, by his lectures 

 and writings, is now constantly advancing geological science in the oldest of our 

 British universities. 



There is yet one subject connected with the Geological Survey to which I mxist 

 also call your attention, viz. the mineral statistics of the United Kingdom, as com- 

 piled with great care and ability by Mr. Robert Hunt, the Keeper of the Mining 

 Records, and published annually in the Memoirs of our establishment. 



These returns made a deep impression on the statists of foreign coimtries who 

 were assembled last year in London at the International Congress. The Govern- 

 ment and members of the legislature are now regxdarly furnished with reliable in- 

 formation as to our mineral produce, which, until very recently, was not obtain- 

 able. By the labours of ]\Ir. Robert Hunt, in sedulously collecting data from all 

 quarters, we now become aware of the fact that we are consuming and exporting 



