186 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904. 



The closing banquet of the congress, at the Hotel Continental on the evening of 

 August 27, was one of those pleasant affairs which will live long in the memory of 

 the attending geologists because of the general good fellowship. Tietze presided at 

 this banquet and spoke the official farewell in French, followed by Geikie with rem- 

 iniscences in English. The latter told us that more than forty years ago he made 

 his first visit to Vienna for the purpose of consulting with Haidinger, one of the 

 great geologists of that day. Of those he then met, nearly all are now gone except 

 ing Suess, then a young man beginning, to attract attention, but now known to us all 

 through his masterly work, " Das Antlitz der Eide." 



This reference to forty years ago, when both Geikie and Suess were young, visibly 

 affected the latter. Toward the end of the speaking Suess rose, and with bowed 

 head and a low voice increasing to considerable volume as he proceeded, spoke elo- 

 quently in German in the following words: 



"My distinguished master, Sir Archibald Geikie, was so kind as to say that more 

 than forty years ago he became personally acquainted with me. With my highly 

 honored friend Baron Richthofen, it is rather near fifty years. What a memorable 

 half century we have lived through! During this time, under the influence of 

 increasing knowledge of nature, all human conceptions of the earth have changed. 

 It is remarkable, however, to see how often the single inquirer, bent upon the object 

 of his quest, fails to comprehend the broader aspects of a problem by whose details 

 lie is fettered, just as the stonecutter clinging to the facade, can not see the splendor 

 of the structure on which he himself is engaged. And yet there is a special charm 

 in geological studies precisely on account of the extraordinary range of accommoda- 

 tion that is demanded of the eye — of the same eye which now examines the disinte- 

 gration of quartz in a thin slide under the microscope, now sweeps over snowy 

 mountain peaks, over dark precipitous cliffs and verdant vales, and with command- 

 ing glance reads their structure in the features of the landscape. But not less is the 

 demand on the adjusting powers of the mind. From the most subtle conclusions 

 derived from an ingenious experiment the geologist must be able to lift the mental 

 eye over hill and valley into the most distant parts of the universe. There the 

 glowing spectra of nebula- teach him that even now the great processes of world-making 

 are not yet ended. With the aid of instruments he can daily witness the greatest 

 eruptions of superheated gases emanating from the body of our sun. Photography 

 spreads before him the pictures of the desolate crater fields of the moon. 



"Returning to his earth lie now perceives that the sum total of life's phenomena 

 not only forms a single phenomenon, but that it is also limited by space and time. 

 It occurs to him now that the stone which his hammer strikes is but the nearest 

 lying piece of the planet, that the history of this stone is a fragment of the history 

 of the planet, and that the history of the planet itself is only a very small part of the 

 history of the great, wonderful, and ever-changing kosmos. 



" His heart then thrills; he'feels called as a colaborer on the most sublime prob- 

 lems in which feeble mortal beings can take part. Then, too, he sees that the 

 fundamental lines of structure coursing over the earth's surface have nothing to do 

 with the political lines separating the nations. The vastness of the problem itself 

 makes the concord of civilized nations natural, and they remain separated only 

 through their emulation, all filled with the idea that mankind in general will most 

 highly esteem that nation which is in the position to offer the most and the best of 

 noble example, of new truth, and of ideal worth. 



"These are the words which have crowded into articulation at this moment when 

 you, now gathered from all parts of the world, are about to disperse. 



" For the continuation of the feelings that till us to-day, and for continued inspira- 

 tion for our noble science, I raise my glass." 



W \shington, D. C, June 25, 1904. 



