Reports & Proceedings — Geological Society of London. 181 



In handing the Murchison Medal, awarded to Joseph B. Tyrrell, 

 M.A., to the Hon. Sir George Halsey Perley, K.C.M.G., High 

 Commissioner for tlie Dominion of Canada, for transmission to the 

 recipient, the President addressed him as follows : — 



Sir George Perley, — The Murchison Medal has been awarded to 

 Mr. Joseph B. Tj'rrell in recognition of the value of his many services to 

 geological science. In the breadth of their scope, in the pioneer element 

 which has so largely entered, in the practical benefits which have often 

 followed, those services may stand as typical of Canada's contribution to 

 Geology. 



During more than thirty years Mr. Tyrrell has been frequently engaged 

 in exploring wide tracts of the little-knoAvn Barren Lands of Northern 

 Canada, making prolonged journej'S of a kind which demands no ordinary 

 resolution and endurance. Besides thus adding largely to geographical 

 knowledge by his own efibrts, he has done much to make known the results 

 of earlier explorers in the North. While helping very materially to 

 develop the mineral resources of the Dominion, he has at the same time 

 gathered much valuable information touching the older rocks of the region ; 

 and, uniting in his own person the geologist and the prospector, he has 

 often shown by example how science and enterprise may go hand in hand, 

 to the great advantage of both. 



On the side of pure science, however, his most notable researches have 

 been in the domain of Glacial Geology, where his extensive acquaintance 

 with the country has enabled him to arrive at conclusions of a large order. 

 Prior to 1894 it was generally held that the ice which once overspread 

 Canada, east of the Cordillera with its mountain glaciers, emanated from 

 a single centre of dispersal. ' Mr. Tyrrell first demonstrated the existence 

 and approximate limits of a great ice-sheet, which he named the Keewatin, 

 centreing in the country west of Hudson Bay and distinct in origin from 

 the Labradorean ice-sheet on the east. To these two he subsequently 

 added a third, under the name of the Patrician Glacier, which had its 

 gathering-ground to the south of Hudson Bay. His development of this 

 thesis, involving a discussion of the relations in time and space of the ice- 

 sheets radiating from different centres, must rank among the most im- 

 portant contributions to the Glacial history of North America. 



In forwarding to Mr. Tyrrell this token of recognition from the Council 

 of the Geological Society, I beg. Sir, that you will add to our congratula- 

 tions upon what he has already accomplished our hope that many years of 

 activity still remain to him ; and this wish will, I am sure, be echoed by 

 his numerous friends on both sides of the Atlantic. 



Sir George Perley replied in the following words : — 



Mr. President, — I am very happy to come here to-day and receive this 

 Medal on behalf of Mr. Tyrrell, and I only regret that he is not here him- 

 self for that purpose. He was in London for some time last year, but 

 unfortunately had to return to Canada last month, so that he has missed 

 the pleasure of being with j'ou to-day. As I live in Ottawa, I have known 

 Mr. Tyrrell for a long time. He is a native-born Canadian, and was for 

 manj' j^ears connected with the Canadian Geological Survey. He showed 

 much resource and energy in his work, and it is very fitting that he should 

 be recognized by your Society in this way. 



I maj' say that, in our Dominion, we are proud of our Geological Survey 

 and of what it has done. We have a large country with great undeveloped 

 mineral resources, which the Geological Survey has done a great deal to 

 help discover and utilize. Fortunately, Canada has been able to assist 

 more than could have been expected in providing minerals and metals 

 during the War. Many supplies from enemy countries have been cut off, 

 and higher prices have encouraged enterprise. In consequence, we have 

 not only provided large quantities of nickel, but we have developed our 



