PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 181 



There is room, too, for a consideraBle extension in the scope of the activity 

 and usefuhiess of our museums ir. other directions, and more especially in the 

 provision of typic-al lithological collections illustrating the geology of different 

 parts of the British Empire and of foreign countries. 



So far as the United Kingdom is concerned, this requirement has been admi- 

 rably fulfilled in the museums attached to the Survey Headquarters in London, 

 Edinburgh, and Dublin, and there is a smaller collection of the same nature, 

 excellent in its way, at the Natural History Museum. But to obtain a broad 

 outlook it is essential that the attention of geological workers should not be 

 confined to one country, however diversified its rocks may be, and it is impossible 

 to assimilate effectively publications dealing! with the geology of other parts of 

 the world without being able to refer to collections of the rocks, minerals, and 

 fossils described. 



The rocks, for instance, of the Dominion of South Africa are of the greatest 

 scientific and economic interest, and many important communications have been 

 published with regard to them. They present at the same time many features 

 which distinguish them from European types, but I am not aware of any 

 museum in this country where they are adequately illustrated. 



Such collections should include not only rock specimens in the ordinary 

 sense of the term, but also examples of metalliferous veins and other mineral 

 deposits which present important distinctive features. 



In the Imperial Institute there are at the present time collections from most 

 of the different constituent parts of the British Empire, which fulfil to a certain 

 extent these requirements, and they have been employed by myself and others 

 in demonsti'ations to the C4eologists' Association in illustration of the geology 

 of Peninsular India and. different parts of Africa ; but they are very incomplete, 

 having been collected with the view of exhibiting, not so much the character of 

 the rocks and mode of occurrence of the minerals, as the economic resom-ces of 

 the British Empire. 



This is, of course, a function of the very greatest importance, but collections 

 of minerals of intrinsic economic significance gathered together to assist in the 

 development of the I'esources of the Empire should be organised on a different 

 plan. They should be arranged, not according to the areas in which they occur, 

 but with reference to the products obtained from them. The object of such 

 collections is to enable those who are in want of materials for commercial 

 pui-poses to ascertain where they can be obtained, and of what quality and at 

 what price. For this purpose different samples of the same or similar ores or 

 other products should be placed together irrespective of their origin, and 

 each specimen should be accompanied by an assay or analysis, and such informa- 

 tion with regard to its source and mode of occurrence as will enable the 

 inquirer to form an opinion as to whether it will be likely to satisfy his require- 

 mentij. 



The lithological and pah'eontological collections which I am now advocating 

 should, on the other hand, be an-anged so that each group of specimens illus- 

 trates an area possessing distinctive geological features. Little has, hitherto, 

 yet been done in this direction. Tlie Mineral Department of the Natural 

 History Museum possesses a large and extensive collection of foreign and 

 colonial lithological specimens arranged according to localities, which is too 

 little known, but it is naturally very unequal and incomplete, some countries 

 being comparatively well represented and others scarcely at all. The Geological 

 Department of the Museimi is well provided with pah-eontological si>ecimens, 

 but these are arranged according to their biological affinities, and they might 

 well be supplemented by a series of typical collections illustrating the fauna 

 and flora of the more distinctive horizons in different areas. This is all the more 

 important, as the mode of preservation may be very different in different places. 

 It is probable that the geological surveys of British Dominions and Depen- 

 dencies and of foreign countries would in many cases be able to supjily such 

 collections of rocks, mineiMl deposits, and fossils as I have suggested. Where 

 this is not possible, the only practicable means of obtaining really typical 

 collections is to despatch a re^Dresentative of the Museum, preferably one of its 

 own officers, to make one himself. The provision of such facilities for the 

 study of the geology of other lands is especially desirable in London in view 

 1919. E 



