182 Reports and Proceedings — 



matter increases yearly ; and as it is impossible for any one to read all that appears, 

 a heavy debt is due to those who undertake the arrangement of a key to the various 

 publications. In Palaeontology this is even of greater importance than in Geology. 

 In your recently published ' Bibliography of the Foraminifera,' and in the Catalogue 

 of 'British Fossil Vertebrata,' published in conjunction with Mr. Smith Woodward, 

 you have contributed to that important object the establishment of a general palaj- 

 ontological list with full references; whilst in the assistance given to the ' Geological 

 Record ' you have done good service to the science for the advancement of which this 

 Society exists. As a mark of the value attached by the Council to the completion of 

 a general index to palaeontological writings, and as an assistance in the compilation 

 of any portion of the work that you may undertake, 1 have much pleasure in present- 

 ing to you the Balance of the Lyell Donation Fund. 



Mr. Sheeboen, in reply, said :— I must ask you, Sir, to express my thanks to the 

 Council for the distinction they have shown me in awarding me the Proceeds of the 

 Lyell Fund. 1 feel great diffidence in accepting such award, my work having 

 extended over but few years. I have endeavoured to make that work as perfect as 

 possible, and hope to devote my future time to bibliographic research. I wish to 

 thank Prof. Rupert Jones and Mr. Topley for first assistance in my work, and I 

 assure you, Sir, I shall always labour to make my work more perfect. 



In presenting to Mr. W. Jerome Harrison, F.G.S., a grant from 

 the Proceeds of the Barlow-Jameson Fund, the President addressed 

 him as follows : — 



Mr. Harrison, — In awarding to you a grant from the Barlow-Jameson Fund, the 

 Council recognize the value of your endeavours to spread a knowledge of Geology by 

 the compilation and publication of hand-books to the Geology of the Counties in 

 England and Wales. They also appreciate your geological researches in the Midland 

 Counties, and trust that the award now made may be of use to you in the prosecution 

 of future efforts to extend geological knowledge. 



Mr. Harrison, in reply, said: — In thanking the Council for the honour they 

 have conferred upon me, I can only say that their award was as unexpected as it 

 was welcome. The daily tasks of a necessarily busy life have left me but little time 

 for original research, and I have done — not what I would, but what 1 could. This 

 recognition of my labours, and the kind words with which you have accompanied it, 

 will spur me on to increased endeavours in those studies which the Geological Society 

 was established to promote. 



The President then read his Anniversary Address, in which, after 

 giving obituary notices of several Fellows, Foreign Members, and 

 Foreign Correspondents deceased since the last Annual Meeting, 

 including the Venerable Archdeacon Philpot (who was the senior 

 Fellow of the Society, having joined it in 1821), Dr. H. von 

 Dechen (the oldest Foreign Member, elected in 1827), Mr. Eobert 

 Damon, Mr. J. F. LaTrobe Bateman, Mr. H. W. Bristow, Dr. John 

 Percy, the Eev. J. E. Tenison Woods, Mr. Thomas Hawkins, Prof. 

 F. A. von Quenstedt, Prof. Bellardi, Dr. Leo Lesquereux, and Dr. 

 M. Neumayi-, he referred briefly to the condition of the Society 

 during the past twelve months and to a few works on palaeontological 

 subjects published in the same period. He also mentioned the find- 

 ing of Coal in situm a boring at Shakspere's Cliff, and then proceeded 

 with the main subject of his Address, namely, the question of the 

 Permanence of Continents and Ocean-basins. After reviewing the 

 evidence derived from the rocks of oceanic islands, and the absence 

 of deep-sea deposits in continental strata of various ages, he pro- 

 ceeded to the points connected with the geographical distribution of 

 animals and plants, and gave reasons for believing that Sclater's 

 zoological regions, founded on Passerine birds, were inapplicable to 

 other groups of animals or plants, and that any evidence of con- 



