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and again, in a certain order ? I must confess that I cannot discover 

 even the traces of them ; and I think we do injustice to our subject, 

 in bringing it too nearly into comparison with the exacter sciences. 



The earth has been brought into its present form by countless 

 causes of which we know nothing — by corpuscular and chemical ac- 

 tion, varied by changes of temperature, of pressure, and of all other 

 external conditions — by the violence of volcanic forces, called into 

 being by unknown powers of nature, and at unknown intervals of 

 time — by all the combined effects of mechanical degradation — and by 

 all the endless modifications of matter, resulting from beings possess, 

 ing the organs of life. These conditions are infinitely too complex 

 and ill defined to come within the grasp of any exact analysis. 



I believe therefore that our subject will never be so far abstracted from 

 the materials which weigh it down, as to rise to the rank of an exact 

 science. But this, at least, I will dare to predict ; that so long as we 

 are of one mind and animated by our present spirit, year after year, 

 we shall find new fields for investigation, and new grounds for ra- 

 tional induction. That which is exact in science must be circum- 

 scribed and defined : but of our labours we have no power to foresee 

 the limits ; and there is an intense and poetic interest in the very un- 

 certainty and boundlessness of our speculations. 



It is no small advantage that our studies are so large and so va- 

 rious, that they not only carry us into all the kingdoms of nature, 

 but have a direct bearing on the business of life. Of their econo- 

 mical importance, I have, however, now no time to speak ; and I 

 would rather conclude by reminding you of their importance in all 

 questions of physical geography, to which they are as essential as 

 anatomy to the sculptor, or the knowledge of ancient tongues to 

 the decipherer of ancient monuments — of the light they have shed 

 on every branch of natural history — and of the problems they have 

 suggested to the investigations of exact science. Our field is in- 

 deed so large, and our physical problems of such complexity, that we 

 find at every step, how much we stand in need of the support of 

 our fellow-labourers ; and this feeling has produced a strong social 

 sympathy, not merely among us, but among the geologists of all the 

 nations of Europe. It is to this principle that I am willing to attri- 

 bute a part of the great excitement which has hitherto carried us on, 

 and of those youthful and lusty efforts, which are the best indications 

 both of our physical and of our moral health. 



And now, Gentlemen, after having detained you so long, allow 

 me to express my gratitude for the kind assistance which I have re- 

 ceived from you in discharging all the duties of my office during 

 the past year. Should your lives and mine be spared till another 

 Anniversary, I hope to have the delightful task of recounting to you 

 the still more extended labours of our body, and of rejoicing with you 

 at the gathering in of a still richer harvest. 



