184 'Reports and Proceedings — 



still more careful work and still more earnest teaching than as an honorarium for 

 any work done or any good results yet attained. The endeavour to disseminate 

 knowledge hy teaching has not been without its pleasures, though the professional 

 pay has ceased for want of sympathy with geology in some quarters. The paliBonto- 

 logical work has always carried its reward with it, both in the fulfilment of a 

 naturalist's duty and in the frequent friendly cooperation of fellow workers. The 

 foremost of these is my distinguished friend Prof. W. K. Parker, who was associated 

 with me by the Council some twenty years ago in a high compliment similar to that 

 for which I now give you thanks. Another friend and fellow -worker, Mr. Kirkby, 

 was honoured not long since with a similar tribute to his scientific worth and industry. 

 To enjoy such associations is a reward in itself. To know that the Society appre- 

 ciates what I have done and tried to do is in itself a reward also. To have this 

 encouraging mark of its favour, as instituted by one of the best of geologists, and 

 one of the best of my old friends, is a pleasure and a honour greater than I deserve." 



In presenting to Prof. Charles Lap worth, F.G.S., of the Mason 

 College of Science, Birmingham, one moiety of the balance of the 

 proceeds of the Lyell Donation Fund, the President addressed him 

 as follows : — 



Professor Lapwoeth, —Those who know not your valuable contributions to 

 palaeozoic geology and palaeontology have much to learn ; probably no other author 

 has so ably written upon the GraptoUtidae, or has taken a more comprehensive view 

 of the history of life and development in the lowest rocks of the British Islands and 

 Scandinavia than yourself. You have enriched the literature of palaeozoic palaeonto- 

 logy by fourteen or fifteen communications of the greatest value. Chief amongst 

 them is your paper in our Journal on the Moffat series in 1878; no recent 

 contribution to this branch of palaeontology surpasses this in research. Most of 

 your papers have been contributed to the Geological Magazine, between the years 

 1870-81, and to the publications of the Glasgow and Edinburgh Geological 

 Societies, most of which have an important bearing upon the history of the 

 Ehabdophora, both zoologically and stratigraphically. I may mention your papers 

 on the British Graptolites and their allies, and on an improved classification of the 

 Ehabdophora, both in the year 1873 ; also, in 1876, your paper on the Scottish 

 MonograptidaB, and your two philosophical papers on the Tripartite divisions of the 

 Lower Palaeozoic rocks, and on the correlation of the Lower Palaeozoic rocks of 

 Britain and Scandinavia. I beKeve you are now engaged in the preparation of 

 another paper requiring considerable research ; to aid you therefore in this, the 

 Council have awarded you part of the proceeds of the Lyell Fund. 



Prof. Lapworth, in reply, said: — Mr. President, — lam deeply sensible of the 

 unexpected honour conferred upon me by the Council in making this award, and 1 

 beg to offer them my sincere thanks. I am especially grateful for the generous and 

 flattering terms in which you. Sir, have referred to my labours and for the kindly 

 and hearty manner in which the Fellows of the Society have received the mention of 

 my name. My original work in geology in the past has been the delightful employ- 

 ment of such few hours as I have been able to snatch from the absorbing duties 

 and avocations of a very busy life, and to me the charms of original research are so 

 attractive that I feel pretty confident that such leisure time as I find at my disposal 

 in the future will most certainly be devoted to the same pursuits. Next to the 

 pleasure of original discovery itself is the profound satisfaction that springs from 

 the knowledge that one possesses the interest and sympathy of one's fellow scientists. 

 And here I have always felt that I have been more than ordinarily fortunate ; for 

 the Fellows of this Society have cheered me from the first with their kindly approval 

 and encoui-agement. I look upon this award, as I did upon that which 1 received 

 a few years ago, as distinct and tangible evidence of their continued interest in my 

 work and their desire for its continuance, and I accept it in the spirit in which it is 

 given. I am especially gratified that the present award is associated with the 

 illustrious name of Sir Charles Lyell. His unbiassed conscientiousness in the ac- 

 cumulation of his facts, his fearless and earnest search for truth, and truth alone, 

 and his calmness and modesty in the presentation of his magnificent results, have 

 always made him appear in my eyes to be that of one of the geologists of the modern 

 age most worthy of respect and imitation, and I feel a profound pleasure in being 

 thus associated, however remotely, with his illustrious name. I can only trust that 



