XXU PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Woodward replied — 



Sir, I beg to thank you, and the Council, for the valuable compli- 

 ment you have conferred upon me. It is well known to many gentle- 

 men now present, that I commenced life in the service of this Society, 

 as assistant to Mr. Lonsdale, whose name is still so highly esteemed 

 within these walls ; and I enjoyed the good fortune of remaining here 

 during the whole time of your former official connection with the 

 Society. In the position which I have held, it has been my duty 

 rather to assist others than to conduct investigations of my own ; and 

 I have been amply rewarded by the kind and liberal manner in which 

 the slightest services have always been acknowledged by Fellows of 

 this Society. 



ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 



Gentlemen, — Whilst we rejoice in our continued prosperity and 

 look forward confidently to the future progress of Geology, we must 

 not forget, that the year just gone by has been one of mourning for 

 science and of heavy losses by death, abroad and at home, for our 

 Society. First in the list of the departed, who were among our 

 eminent members, is the name of 



Leopold Von Buch. The death of this illustrious philosopher 

 and pre-eminent geologist took place, after a few days' iUness, at 

 Berlin, in March 1853. He had attained the age of 79 years, and 

 to the last preserved his unrivalled energy and scientific enthusiasm. 



Baron Von Buch was a member of an ancient and noble Prussian 

 family, and was a Royal Chamberlain of Prussia ; knighthoods and 

 distinctions of all kinds had been showered upon him unsought, for 

 his merits. He was one of the eight Foreign members of the Insti- 

 tute of France, and a foreign or honorary fellow of almost every 

 great scientific academy out of his own countrj^ At home he was 

 one of the most active members of the Berlin Academy of Sciences. 

 Fortunate in the possession of a sufficient, if not ample income, un- 

 tied by the trammels of office or routine duties, he was enabled to 

 devote the whole of his long life to the search after scientific truth. 

 Nobly did he fulfil his mission. Unselfish, free from env)'^, anxious 

 and able to aid, he sought not only to advance science by his own 

 exertions, but to assist by advice at all times, by purse where neces- 

 sary, every younger man who worked earnestly in the same course. 

 There is an old Jewish proverb which says, " He who seeks a name 

 loses fame ;" Leopold Von Buch scorned fame and gained it. 



He was a pupil of Werner ; one of the youths destined afterwards 

 to be illustrious, who studied under the instruction of the renowned 

 professor of Freiberg. However serious the demerits of many of the 

 views promulgated by that distinguished teacher, his eloquence and 

 inspiration effected mighty services for geology, through the love for 

 the science with which it imbued his disciples. Errors vanish in 

 the course of time — they are like unpreservable species in geolo- 



