22 
the regions it occupies, the products which are yielded by their 
soil, the direction in which their rivers run, and the whole phe- 
nomena of geographical investigation, beginning not only with the 
appearance of the topography of the earth, its mountains and val- 
leys, but its meteorological conditions and the influences that those 
conditions have in modifying climatic influences, and either tending 
to the increase of the natural productions of the soil or interfering 
with their growth, and admonishing man that there are certain pas- 
tures upon which he cannot venture. 
What is the geology of the present day as compared with that 
which prevailed one hundred and fifty years ago? The great 
geological surveys that have been going on, not only in Europe but 
in our own country, have developed an amount of knowledge as to 
the structure and contents of the rocks which strikes us all with 
admiration. One discovery after another is presented. Men are 
- tracing the various stages of the earth through the fossils which the 
rocks contain, and while their speculations are not always conclu- 
sive on our judgment, yet they open to us fields for contemplation 
and thought which we all may pursue with intelligence and profit. 
We are endeavoring now to unroll the history of the past by the 
excavations which reveal the ancient temples and the depositories 
of the knowledge of those who have passed into history, and day 
by day some tablet, or cylinder, or mummy, is brought forth and 
the contents of the cylinder or tablet and the wrappings of the 
mummy give us lessons in the history of man which compel us to 
say in our hearts: There is nothing new under the sun, 
I have referred to photography. At the centennial celebration 
of this Society, in the year.1843, one of the papers which was pre- 
sented was a sketch given by Dr. Paul B. Goddard of his investi- 
gations in what might be the outgrowth of photography from the 
daguerrotype process. At that time photography was in its embryo 
state; very little was known of it. The experiments which he de- 
scribed as to the possibility of transferring upon printed pages or 
metallic plates the impressions that were taken, showed the dawn- 
ings of this great art which, perhaps, I ought to dignify with a 
higher name and call it science. Look around you now, my friends, 
at the manifestations of this art which meet you at every step of 
your progress through the streets of a great metropolis. The famil- 
iar features of your friends and children, of the distinguished men 
of the country and the great natural objects which attract our 
