186 Reports and Proceedings — Geological Society of London. 



invitation be extended to Miss Elles to be present at the Annual 

 General Meeting to receive the award which has been made to her 

 by the Council," he had, as a protest, resigned his position on the 

 Council and withdrawn his nomination to the new Council, then 

 being elected. He contended that the giving of the Medals and 

 Awards was not an official part of the business of the Annual 

 Meeting, and that in refusing to invite a recipient of an honour 

 to be present to receive it, solely on the ground of sex, the Council 

 had acted against the custom of the Society. 



The reports having been adopted, the President handed the 

 Wollaston Medal, awarded to Professor G. K. Gilbert, F.M.G.S., 

 of Washington, to Mr. Henry White, Secretary of the American 

 Embassj'^, for transmission to the recipient, addressing him as 

 follows :— Mr. White,— 



For many years Professor Gilbert has contributed to several Araericau publications 

 papers of a most varied kind, some dealing with important subjects appertaining to 

 the Geology of the United States and some with matters of still wider interest. 



The same may be said of his series of reports, etc., to the Geological Surrey of 

 the United States, beginning with the well - known ' ' Geology of the Henry 

 Mountains," in which the volcanic structure kno^\Ti as a laccolite was first described, 

 and a masterly summary of the principles of erosion was given. The Essay on the 

 Topographical Features of Lake-shores, descriptive of the work of waves, of streams, 

 and of ice, of the formation of deltas, of cliffs, and of terraces, naturally led up to 

 the great monograph on Lake Bonneville, the tracing out of a former featm-e — 

 whereof the present Great Salt Lake is the diminished representative, written in such 

 a way as to make one almost feel that the old lake is there still. 



Nor has Professor Gilbert neglected those more practical matters that press 

 themselves on officers of a Geological Survey, for he has written also on the Under- 

 ground Water of tiie Arkansas Valley ; but the lake fever keeps with him, and has 

 led him to take up the question of recent earth -movements in the region of the 

 Great Lakes, on which we had an elaborate essay in 1898, leading to the conclusion 

 that change is still going on, and pointing out the results that will occur if it 

 continues. 



We feel that Professor Gilbert is an honour to the Survey of which he has long 

 been an officer, and a worthy successor of his countrymen, James Hall and 

 J. D. Dana, as our Wollaston Medallist, for his work is not only American, but for 

 the world at large. 



Mr. White replied in the following words : — Mr. President, — 



It has given me great pleasure, Sir, to attend this interesting meeting to-day, and 

 to receive on behalf of my fellow-couutryman, Professor Gilbert, the Wollaston 

 Medal which has been awarded to him by the Council of this Society for important 

 researches concerning the mineral structure of the earth — an honour which, as you 

 have just pointed out, has hitherto been conferred upon two other Americans only, 

 the late James Hall and the late J. D. Dana. 



Particularly gratifying has it been to me, as I am sure it will be to all who know 

 Professor Gilbert, to hear, from the statement which you have just read, how highly 

 his work is appreciated by the Geological Society of London. He deeply regrets 

 that it should not have been possible for him, owing to engagements of a pressing- 

 nature at home, to come here to-day and to receive this Medal himself, but I shall 

 not fail to inform him of the very kind manner in which its presentation has been 

 made, and of the applause which has greeted each mention of his name at this 

 meeting. 



I beg to thank the Council of this Society most sincerely, on Professor Gilbert's 

 behalf, for the honour which has been conferred upon him, an honour which he 

 highly appreciates, as does the United States Geological Survey, of whose staff 

 he has been a distinguished member since its foundation in 1878. 



Perhaps I may be permitted, as one who has been closely connected for many years 

 past with the diplomatic relations between the United States and Great Britain, to- 



