40 proceedings of the geological societr. 



Award of the Murchison Geological Pund. 



In presenting the Balance of the Murchison Geological Fund to 

 Mr. E. Wethered, E.G.S., tlie President addressed him as follows: — 



Mr. Wethered, — 



The remainder of the Murchison Donation Fund has been awarded 

 to you by the Council of this Society on account of the researches 

 you have undertaken into the microscopic structure of sedimentary 

 rocks, and to aid you in prosecuting further inquiries. The results 

 of your examination of the insoluble residues obtained from the Car- 

 boniferous Limestone, and of the remarkable minute tubular forms 

 (apparently organic) from various limestones, that you have ascribed 

 to Girvanella, are of great interest, and have furnished an important 

 contribution to our knowledge of the manner in which PalaBozoic and 

 Mesozoic limestones have been formed. 



Mr. Wethered, in reply, said : — 

 Mr. President, — 



I desire to express to the Council my thanks for the honour done 

 me in making me the recipient of the Murchison Pund for the year. 

 This kind consideration will greatly encourage me in pursuing that 

 branch of geological research which I have marked out as one of the 

 objects of my life. To have done work which merits the acknowledg- 

 ment of this Society — the first in the world — is one of the greatest 

 satisfactions a geologist can enjoy. 



You have referred to my work on the microscopical examination of 

 limestones, and I should like to say that in this there is a most im- 

 portant field open for investigation. If those who have the opportunity 

 of examining the oldest limestones would do so through the micro- 

 scope, with due regard in preparing the slides to the optical properties 

 of the rock, my belief is that our knowledge of the life whicli existed 

 at that early period of the earth's history would be considerably 

 advanced. 



I again return my thanks for the honour done me. 



