564 Notices of Memoirs—Edward A. Reeves— 
or could be made, ample for this purpose. But except for attempts 
by local water companies and corporations to obtain the data I have 
referred to, there exists no public control to deal with the matter. 
In 1906 a Committee of the Royal Geographical Society, with 
Dr. Strahan as Chairman, and with the aid of a grant from the Royal 
Society, undertook to investigate river discharge, suspended and 
dissolved matter, rainfall, area, and geological conditions in some 
specially selected river-basins, The final report, which has now 
appeared, dealing with the Severn above Worcester, the Exe, and 
the Medway, constitutes a most valuable record. 
It will be obvious to all geologists that important fleanetiont 
questions, such as the rate of denudation and deposition, and vital 
engineering matters, such as the position and permanency of harbour 
works, would be greatly assisted by exact quantitative estimates of 
the material carried down by rivers. 
In 1878 Joseph Lucas urged the importance of a Hydro- geological 
Survey of England, and “the Royal Commission on Canals and 
Waterways in their final report in 1909 recommended the appoint- 
ment of some public authority to do for the whole country what this 
Committee has so admirably done for these three river-basins. 
Organization of Expert Knowledge. 
We are reminded by the report of a later Royal Commission—that 
on Coast Erosion in 1911—that systematic observations and the 
collation and organization of geological and engineering knowledge 
are urgently needed in connexion with the protection of our coasts 
and the reclamation of new lands. For it will be remembered that 
the Commission found that during the last thirty-five years the gain 
of land, as shown by Ordnance Survey maps, has been more than 
seven times the loss by erosion. 
Here, again, the British Association may reflect with pride that it 
paved the way for this national inquiry. For many years its 
Committee on Coast Erosion gathered and collated evidence on 
erosion, and induced the Admiralty to instruct the Coastguard to 
observe and report upon changes that take place from time to time. . . . 
Is it not abundantly clear that in economic geology, as in the case 
of other applied sciences, we must rely in the future less upon 
chance individual effort and initiative? We must concentrate, 
centralize, and organize; and at every stage we shall need expert 
control and advice as regards those larger scientific issues of national 
importance which have a direct practical bearing. 
II—Tue Maprine oF tHE Karru, Past, Presenr, anp Furure. Being 
an abridged report of Address to the Geographical Section (E), 
British Association, Newcastle. By Epwarp A. Renvzs, F.R.A.S., 
F.R.G.S., President. 
FTER a brief allusion to the increasingly important part Science 
had been called upon to play in the present great crisis and the 
value of a more thorough and general scientific training, the President 
