649 



have to discharge our office with the aid and counsel of those ex- 

 cellent persons to whom the prosperity of the Society up to the pre- 

 sent time has been owing. Surrounded by such men, knowing their 

 generous and ready sympathy for the attempts and exertions of their 

 followers and disciples, I feel a cheerful confidence in the future des- 

 tinies of the Geological Society ; and a persuasion that it will not 

 only preserve but extend its influence as a bond of scientific and 

 social union among its members. 



