JReports and Proceedings — Geological Society of London. 185 



Mr. Harmer replied as follows : — Mr. President, — 



It is impossible to thank the Council as I could wish for the great honour that 

 they have eont'erred on me, or yourself, sir, for the words which you have just 

 spoken. The pleasure that this award gives to me has been much increased by your 

 kind reference to my dear old master and friend, Searles V. Wood the younger, with 

 whom, as you have said, I had so long the privilege of working : to whom, indeed, 

 the credit of anything that I was able to accomplish in my younger days is largely 

 due. I am glad to think that this Medal recognizes also the value of the far more 

 important labours of the distinguished man to whose teaching and influence I owe 

 so much. 



I regret that during my best years the demands on my scanty leisure left me no 

 time for geological investigation, and that I have only been able to return to it in the 

 evening of lite : first, because I can hardly expect to do much to show myself more 

 worthy of this great distinction ; and next, because 1 shall have to leave to my 

 successors many important and interesting problems in East Anglian geology, in the 

 solution of which I once hoped to have taken part. 



The President then presented the Balance of" the Proceeds of the 

 Murchison Geological Fund to Mr. Thomas H. Holland, F.G.S., of 

 the Geological Survey of India, addressing him in the following 

 words : — Mr. Holland, — 



The Eecords of the Geological Survey of India, the Journal of this Society, and 

 ■other periodicals bear testimony to your scientific activity during the past decade. 

 I can only refer to a few of your more important contributions to the advancement 

 of science. 



In your Memoir on the Charnockite Series you have made us familiar with the 

 field-relations, the mineralogical compositiou, and the microscopic structure of an 

 important and interesting group of Archaean rocks ; in your contribution to the 

 " ilanual of the Geology of India "you have given us a valuable treatise on the 

 natural history of Corundum ; aud in your paper on the Elajolite- Syenites of 

 Sivamalai you have added a new group to the foliated crystalline series. 



But you have not confined your attention to the crystalline rocks. In the " Report 

 on the Geological Structure and Stability of the Hill-Slopes around Naini Tal" you 

 have brought yom- geological knowledge to bear on questions affecting the security of 

 life aud property, and have laid down general principles which must be of great 

 utility to all those who are responsible for the safety of the inhabitants of those hiUy 

 districts, in which denudation is going on with exceptional rapidity. 



I have much pleasure in handing you the Balance of the Murchison Geological 

 Fund, which has been awarded to you by the Council of the Geological >Society in 

 recognition of your valuable contributions to Indian Geology. 



In handing the Lyell Medal awarded to Mr. Richard Lydekker, 

 B.A., F.R.S., to Dr. F. A. Bather for transmission to the recipient, 

 the President addressed him as follows: — Dr. Bather, — 



Mr. Lydekker's labours in the domain of Vertebrate Palaeontology commenced, 

 I believe, with a study of the Siwalik fossils, which resulted in numerous and 

 valuable additions to the classic work of Falconer & Cautley on the SiAvalik Fossils. 



Many other Tertiary Vertebrata from various parts of India aud Burmah, from 

 Perim Island, Sind, the Nerbudda, aud the Irrawaddy Valley, have been examined 

 and describecl by him. He has also given us an account of the Pleistocene fauna of 

 the Karnul caves, and has contributed to oiu- knowledge of Indian Mesozoic Eeptilia. 



During his residence in India as an Officer of the Geological Siu'vey he was 

 necessarily much occupied with field-work ; and we have to thank him for a detailed 

 account of the vast mountainous area comprised within the territories of Kashmir. 



Since his return to this country he has not been idle. He has contributed no less 

 than ten volumes to the Ofiicial Catalogue of the British Museum ; he has visited the 

 Museums of Argentina and added mucli to our knowledge of the remarkable Tertiary 

 fauna of South America ; and he has fm'nished to this and other Societies numerous 

 descriptions of Vertebrata from the Mesozoic and Tertiary formations of various 

 countries. His extensive knowledge of fossil forms has enabled him to contribute to 



