THE 



GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 



No. CXIV.— DECEMBER, 1873. 



OI^IC3-IIs^.i^XJ -.^i^tioijEis. 



I. — Geologists' Association, University College, London. Ad- 

 dress AT THE opening OF THE SESSION, NOVEMBER 7tH, 1873. 

 By iHE President, Henry "Woodward, F.R.S,, F.G.S., etc. 



TIME with slow and measured tread moving over the buried 

 records of the past — Time, upon whose ample store the geologist 

 is wont to draw with an unsparing hand, seems to have accelerated 

 his pace in this nineteenth century, and hurries onward as if his few 

 remaining sands were well-nigh run. 



But the progress of Time is as constant and unvarying to-day as 

 it was when life first dawned upon our infant planet ; the apparent 

 change is only the result of our attempting to measure our brief 

 history by the standard of the infinite universe. 



Yet finite as is our individual existence, we are privileged in 

 forming part of a race, — not ancient, as measured by the geologic 

 record,— but one which, by slow and protracted processes of in- 

 tellectual development, has achieved the power to grasp the most 

 hidden secrets of Nature ; to investigate and comprehend its laws, to 

 decipher its monuments, and to evolve our planet's history from the 

 chaos of the past. 



These grand results — infinite in import to our race — have never- 

 theless all been accomplished by finite means ; each year our know- 

 ledge grows broader and higher, like some mighty Atoll in the 

 Pacific, not by vast accessions, but by the accumulated labours of 

 individuals, in which each one of us may have his part. Let us 

 take a hasty survey of the geological aspect of our intellectual Atoll, 

 and see how far we have added to our store of sound scientific know- 

 ledge during the past twelve months, and where there is still room 

 for more work to be accomplished. 



Our survey naturally divides itself under two main heads, namely : 

 — I. GrEOLOGY (properly so called) ; and II. PALiEONTOLOGY. 



I. — By Geology we comprehend a study of the earth's crust, its 

 composition and arrangement, which naturally is divided again into : 

 — (a.) Petrology ; and (b.) Physical Geology. 



(a.) For the first the geologist, says Forbes, needs the assistance 

 both " of chemistry and the microscope ; by chemical analysis he 

 learns the percentage composition of the rock in question, and the 

 microscopic examination informs him how the chemical elements are 



VOL. X. — NO. CXIV. 31 



