part 1] ANMVEIis.UiV MEETING — LTELL MEDAL. xlvii 



Mr. Woods replied in the following words : — 

 Mr. President, — 



Twenty years ago the Council gave me great encouragement by 

 awarding to me the Lyell Fund. The present award also comes at a 

 time when encouragement is welcome ; not that I feel any loss of 

 interest in my work — far from it. But in these times one cannot 

 help regretting, amongst other things, that one's special work in 

 the past has little if any bearing on matters which are now of 

 practical importance. It is, therefore, encouraging to find that the 

 Council have taken a longer view, and have continued their 

 traditional policy of giving recognition to any and every branch of" 

 Geology whether it has any obvious practical use or not. 



One of the things that struck me most at the beginning of my 

 paheontological work was the generosity and good nature of those 

 with whom that work brought me into contact, and that pleasant 

 experience has continued all through ; whether I have had to da 

 with officials in charge of museums, with professional or amateur 

 geologists, or with that useful person sometimes spoken of dis- 

 paragingly as the mere collector, all have most freely given me the 

 benefit of their experience and the use of their collections ; much 

 as I should like on such an occasion as this to mention their names, 

 I must refrain from doing so — the list is far too long, and I regret 

 that it now includes the names of not a few who are no longer 

 living. 



Whilst it gives me great pleasure to receive this mark of the 

 Council's approval of my work, it gives me a further pleasure to^ 

 regard it as a distinction for the Cambridge School of Geology. 

 To those with whom I have been associated in that school I owe 

 much — to some of them I am deeply indebted. 



I thank the Council most sincerely for this Medal, and you, Siiv 

 for vour kind words. 



