186 Reports & Proceedings — Geological Society of London. 



In addition to his researches upon these extraordinarily interesting episodes in 

 Palgeozoic times, Mr. Howchin has done much to elucidate the complicated 

 structure of Mount Lofty, and the general physiography of South Australia. 

 In making the award, which I now beg you to forward to him, the Council 

 desire to testify their sense of the great importance to geological science of the 

 work that he has done in far-distant Australia. 



In presenting the other Moiety of the Proceeds of the Lyell 

 Geological Fund to Mr. John Postlethwaite, F.G.S., the President 

 addressed him in the following words : — 



Mr. Postlethwaite, — For more than forty years your name has been 

 associated with the geology of the Lake District, for it was in 1874 that you 

 read a paper at Keswick on the Mines and Minerals, which was destined to 

 develop into the useful and beautifully illustrated book reissued in third 

 edition only last year. Though minerals and ores have claimed much of your 

 attention, the igneous rocks with which they are so often associated have been 

 studied in the field and described by you in the pages of our Quarterly Journal. 

 To you also is due the credit of having helped to clear away the obscurity 

 attaching to the age of the Skiddaw Slates by your indefatigable and successful 

 search for fossils. 



The award, which it is my privilege to hand to you, has been allotted to you 

 by the Council in testimony of their appreciation of youL- work in the classic 

 ground of the English Lake District. 



The President thereafter proceeded to read his Anniversary Address, 

 giving Obituary Notices of several Foreign Members, Foreign 

 Correspondents, and Fellows deceased since the last Annual Meeting, 

 including Professor H. Rosenbusch (elected a Foreign Member in 

 1890); Professor Anton Fritsch (el. 1897); Professor H. Credner 

 (el. 1898); F. N. Chernyshev (el. 1909); Professor A. Baltzer 

 (el. 1911); Professor I. Cocchi (elected a JForeign Correspondent in 

 1874) ; Lord Avebury (elected a Fellow in 1855) ; Professor J. Milne 

 (el. 1873) ; H. B. Woodward (el. 1868) ; Dr. T. Anderson (el. 1890) ; 

 Lord Strathcona (eL 1885); J. McMurtrie (el. 1873); Dr. H. F. 

 Parsons (el. 1877); J. L. Lobley (el. 1865); Sir James Lament 

 (el. 1859); W. H. Sutcliffe (el. 1903); Dr. P. L. Sclater (el. 1878) ; 

 F. J. Mitchell (el. 1859); H. K. Slater (el. 1902); and T. H. Cope 

 (el. 1905). 



As the main subject of his Address, the President referred to that 

 part of the work of George Darwin and Wallace which bore on the 

 history and age of the Earth, and commented on the vagueness of the 

 evidence on which estimates of the rapidity of denudation in past 

 times are founded. The problem of denudation was beset with 

 difficulties, due to our imperfect knowledge of the distribution 

 of different types of rocks and climates in primaeval land-surfaces. 

 Before attempting estimates of primaeval time, it should be shown 

 that some degree of precision is attainable in calculating the amount 

 of denudation effected in post-Glacial times and the time required to 

 effect it. 



It was now generally possible to distinguish the features in the 

 landscape which were due to post-Glacial erosion. Piver-gorges, 

 dissected plateaus, fans and deltas of gravel were presented for 

 consideration. In some there seemed to be a possibility of estimating 

 the bulk of the material which had to be moved and the rapidity 

 with which the transporting agents are working. 



