484 Eminent Living Geologists — Prof. John Morris. 



were present) was held at the Apartments of the Geological Society 

 in Somerset House, presided over by Sir Eoderick I. Murchison, 

 Bart., K.C.B., F.E.S., to present to Professor Morris an address on 

 vellum (indited by the facile pen of the late Prof. John Phillips, 

 r.E.S., of Oxford), accompanied by a sum of over £600, as a testi- 

 monial of the high appreciation in which his scientific labours were 

 held by his numerous friends. 



At the Anniversary Meeting of the Geological Society, February 

 18th, 1876, the first award of the Lyell Medal and Fund was (by 

 a unanimous vote of the Council) made to Professor Morris. In 

 presenting the medal, the President, Mr, John Evans, D.C.L., LL.D., 

 F.E.S., said, after referring in laudatory terms to Professor Morris's 

 Catalogue and published papers on Geology : — " Your lectures have 

 done much to spread a taste for Geology, and to enlarge the number 

 of its students ; and those who have heard you take part in our 

 discussions must have been astonished alike at the minuteness of 

 your knowledge of every branch of Geology and Palaeontology, and 

 at the powers of memory by which you were enabled to apply it." 



On the 7th of February, 1878, Prof. Morris was admitted to the 

 Freedom and Livery of the Turners' Company of the City of London, 

 " in consideration of his eminence in the science that relates to the 

 structure, composition, and distribution of the mineral substances 

 employed in the Turners' Art." 



But probably the honour of which Professor Morris feels most 

 justly proud is that which he received on the 6th of June last, when 

 the Senate of the University of Cambridge conferred upon him the 

 honorary degree of Master of Arts.^ 



^ The following is the speech delivered by the Public Orator on June 6th, 1878, 

 in presenting John Morris, F.G.S., late Professor of Geology at University College, 

 London, for the honorary degree of Master of Arts : — 



Dignissime domine, domine Procancellarie, et tota Academia : 



In his sedibus priorum sseculorum munificentia doctrinag dedicatis atque recentiori- 

 bus disciplinis melius indies accommodatis, antiqua respicimus et veneramur Vetera, 

 sed idem inter recentiora optimum quidque fovemus et nova (modo vera sint) non 

 reformidamus. Quanto igitiu- cultu digna est ilia prsesertim scientia, quee ipsa miper 

 in ordinem redacta, orbis terrarum explorat antiquitatem, quse prioris sevi vestigia 

 saxis impressa indagatur, quse monumenta vetusta rupibus insculpta interpretatur, 

 qiise illas denique rerum species quae antiquitus vivebant cum his quse hodie 

 sopersunt comparat. Quanta etiam laude vir hie diguus est, qui annos quadraginta, 

 magnum vitse spatium, illi scientiae excolendse feliciter impenderit ; qui viginti annos 

 inter Londinenses professoris munere egregie functus sit ; qui nobis denique eo 

 artiore vincido sit conjunctus, quod ipse geologorum Britannicorum quotquot nunc 

 vivunt eruditissimus, duo annos illius viri erat vicarius, qui sequalium suorum diu 

 siiperstes, non recentiorum modo disciplinarum lumen sed priscse etiam virtutis 

 exemplar nobis prseferebat, Nestor ille noster, Adamus Sedgwick. 



Geologise quidem studiosis satis notum est hujus viri magnum illud opus, in quo 

 tnt antiquse vitae monumenta e rupibus effossa per seriem recensentur ; sed omnes 

 sibi eo prajsertim nomine obstrinxit, quod neque laudis neque lucri avidus sues fontes 

 omnibus patere passus est, quodque e suse scientise fiuibus in illas artes egressus est, 

 qufe ad commuuem vitae utilitatem pertinent, illud unice verum arbitratus, scientiam 

 artis expertem sibi soli vivere, artem scientia nixam universo generi humano magno 

 in perpetuum esse adjumento. 



Jure igitur post tot annos assiduis laboribus deditos professoris emeriti titulo inter 

 suos ornatus est, felix laborum prteteritorum memoria, felix etiam successore suo ; 



