88 Rayleigtis Address to the British Association. 



granitic substratum, a universality soon interrupted by the 

 appearance of dry land, which preceded Huronian time. 



V. Address before the British Association. 



Montreal, August 27, 1884. 



By the Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, M.A., D.CL., F.R.S., Presi- 

 dent. 



Ladies and Gentlemen, — It is no ordinary meeting of the 

 British Association which I have now the honor of addressing. 

 For more than fifty years the Association has held its autumn 

 gathering in various towns of the United Kingdom, and within 

 those limits there is, I suppose, no place of importance which we 

 have not visited. And now, not satisfied with past successes, we 

 are seeking new worlds to conquer. "When it was first proposed to 

 visit Canada, there were some who viewed the project with hesita- 

 tion. For my own part I never quite understood the grounds of their 

 apprehension. Perhaps they feared the thin edge of the wedge. 

 When once the principle was admitted, there was no knowing to 

 what it might lead. So rapid is the development of the British 

 empire, that the time might come when a visit to such out-of- 

 the-way places as London or Manchester could no longer be 

 claimed as a right, but only asked for as a concession to the sus- 

 ceptibilities of the English. But, seriously, whatever objections 

 may have at.first been felt soon were outweighed by the considera- 

 tion of the magnificent opportunities which your hospitality affords 

 of extending the sphere of our influence and of becoming acquainted 

 with a part of the Queen's dominions which, associated with 

 splendid memories of the past, is advancing daily, by leaps and 

 bounds, to a position of importance such as not long ago was 

 scarcely dreamed of. For myself, I am not a stranger to your 

 shores. I remember well the impression made upon me, seven- 

 teen years ago, by the wild rapids of the St. Lawrence, and the 

 gloomy grandeur of the Saguenay. If anything impressed me 

 more, it was the kindness with which I was received by your- 

 selves, and which I doubt not will be again extended, not merely 

 to myself but to all the English members of the Association. I 

 am confident that those who have made up their minds to cross 

 the ocean will not repent their decision, and that, apart altogether 

 from scientific interests, great advantage may be expected from 



