Reports & Proceedings — Geological Society of London. 181 



David, in recognition of the value of his contributions to our knowledge of the 

 geology of Australasia and the Antarctic regions. Since his appointment to 

 the Geological Survey of New South Wales in 1882, and his subsequent call 

 to the Chair of Geology in the University of Sydney in 1891, Professor David 

 has taken a foremost part in the promotion of geological science in the 

 Australian Commonwealth. His researches on glacial conditions in the Permo- 

 Carboniferous Period, and on the chief tectonic lines of the Australian 

 Continent, have touched problems of the deepest philosophical interest ; 

 while his exhaustive works on some of the Australian coal-fields have shown 

 that he is not unmindful of the economic needs of a newly settled country. 

 The energy and skill with which he brought the boring in the coral-atoll of 

 Funafuti to a successful termination will always be remembered with gratitude 

 and admiration by geologists ; while his bold venture to take a personal share 

 in the hardships and dangers of exploration on the Antarctic Continent 

 enabled ripe experience to bear on the interpretation of geological phenomena 

 which might have been deemed accessible only to those in the first vigour of 

 youth. We still await the detailed report on Professor David's work during 

 the Shackleton Antarctic Expedition, but his preliminary communications 

 have already allowed us to judge of its real importance. 



Prof essor David has already received many marks of appreciation in Australia, 

 where his kindly nature has endeared him both to colleagues and to students. 

 He is a past president of the Eoyal Society of New South Wales, and of the 

 Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science ; and he was Chairman 

 of the New South Wales Committee which made arrangements for the recent 

 visit of the British Association. The Council of the Geological Society will 

 now be glad if you will convey to him the Wollaston Medal as a renewed token 

 of its esteem and appreciation, with an expression of the cordial wishes of the 

 Society for his continued health and activity. 



Sir George Keid, in reply, expressed the pleasure which it afforded him to 

 represent on that occasion an old and valued friend. He dwelt on the great 

 scientific work which Professor David had accomplished in and for Australia, 

 and mentioned that to his expert knowledge Ministers had invariably had 

 recourse when they needed advice on matters connected with science. Not 

 only was Professor David revered in Australia for his scientific attainments, 

 but the charm of his personality and the kindliness of his nature endeared 

 him to all those who knew him. 



In presenting the Murchison Medal to Professor William "Whitehead 

 Watts, F.R.S., the President addressed him in the following words: — 



Professor WATTS, — The Council congratulates itself that, owing to the 

 circumstance of your now resting from the responsibilities of office for the first 

 time during some sixteen years, the opportunity is afforded to it of expressing 

 its deep sense of the many obligations which geological science owes to you 

 and to your researches. It is therefore conscious of more than ordinary 

 appropriateness in awarding to you the Murchison Medal, which recalls the 

 memory of the pioneer who made famous the rocks of your native county, 

 Shropshire, and laid the foundations on which you have so admirably based 

 a superstructure. Your researches have extended from Shropshire to the 

 English Midlands, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and among your writings 

 known and prized by the rising generation of British geologists, I need only 

 mention your brilliant papers on Charnwood Forest, the igneous rocks of the 

 Midlands, and the Collection of Bocks and Fossils belonging to the Geological 

 Survey of Ireland. Your energies and interests in all branches of geology have 

 passed far beyond the range of an ordinary investigator ; and as a teacher of 

 geology you have infected with your enthusiasm numberless students, who 

 have been charmed by the method and clearness of your presentation of the 

 subject, both in the lecture-room and in the field. 



In offering you this mark of its appreciation, the Council desires to express 

 the hope that you may long be spared to continue your invaluable service to 

 the progress of our science. 



