381 



a long time this Society had been regularly supplied with each pub- 

 lished sheet of the Ordnance map. Anxious for the restoration of so 

 useful a gift, which had been discontinued, I made application to the 

 Master-General and Board of Ordnance, and rejoice in now an- 

 nouncing to the Society, that they have complied with this request, 

 in a manner the most prompt and liberal. 



From the continent we have just received a map of Teneriffe, 

 which completes the labours in that isle of the great and disinterested 

 geologist, Von Buch. I commend it to your admiration for its beau- 

 tiful execution, and for its singular value as an accurate delineation 

 of an ancient volcano*. 



The works relating to our science, which have issued from the 

 French press during the past year, are numerous and important ; at 

 the same time they are of so easy access, that I shall, on this occasion, 

 simply advert to a few of those which appear to be more connected 

 with inquiries, in which English geologists have been recently oc~ 

 cupied. 



The vast importance of comparative lists of fossil shells, on which 

 I dwelt when speaking of the " Principles of Geology," has been 

 placed in a new and striking light by that profound conchologist 

 M. Deshayes, for a full comprehension of whose tables I refer you to 

 the report of the Academy of Sciences f ; and I have no hesitation in 

 declaring, that since the appearance of the fossil osteology of Baron 

 Cuvier, no work has placed in so strong a light the mutual and in- 

 separable connexion which must ever exist between the progress of 

 zoology and the science which we are associated to cultivate. I trust 

 that the example of M. Deshayes will stimulate naturalists of other 

 countries to prosecute the study of organic remains with the same 

 attention to minute details, united with an enlightened and philo- 

 sophical regard to the general views of geology. 



The theory of that eminent geologist, M. Elie de Beaumont, which, 

 at our last Anniversary, was so fully and clearly expounded by my 

 predecessor, although supported by some distinguished names, has 

 since been warmly contested by M. Boue" and other able writers; 

 who, in denying to the author the merit of having been the first to 

 point out that different formations and masses of land have been ele- 

 vated at distant and separate periods, reject that part of his system 

 which asserts the synchronous elevation of distant mountain chains, 

 parallel to each other. 



As the latter part of this subject will, I doubt not, still undergo 

 ample discussion, both on the continent and in England, we must 

 wait for the development of numerous facts before we can be 

 warranted in arriving at general conclusions ; and I need scarcely 



* To another distinguished Prussian geologist, the Baron A. Humboldt, 

 we are indebted for a new map of the Cordilleras of the Andes. Germany 

 seems to be annually giving birth to many departmental geological maps; 

 whilst the Empire of Russia has, I am informed, produced no less than 

 sixteen such works within a very short period. 



f Ann. des Sciences, torn. xxiv. p. 176. 



c2 



