AISTNIVERSAEY ADDRESS OP THE PRESIDENT. 57 



that were brought forward. Should it, however, be at a future 

 time thought desirable to ascertain the opinions of the Fellows 

 upon any question involving a great change in the constitution or 

 proceedings of the Society, I must express a hope that some means 

 will be used to ascertain the views of the Pellows as a whole, and 

 not merely of those who are able to attend a meeting at the So- 

 ciety's rooms. I find, by going through the lists for 1888, that 

 only about one third of the whole number of Fellows reside in the 

 metropolis or in one of the metropolitan counties, two thirds live 

 beyond those limits. So far, too, as I am able to judge, the pro- 

 portion of Fellows living at a distance from London tends to 

 increase from year to year. 



I shall not, in the present Address, attempt any review of the 

 geological literature of the past twelve months. The various scien- 

 tific serials that now appear, and contain accounts of all the more 

 important contributions to knowledge, render the task of reviewing 

 the additions to our rather wide-ranging science in the Anniversary 

 Address less necessary than was formerly the case, whilst the 

 majority of the works and papers published can only be fairly 

 judged and analyzed by those who have made a special study of the 

 department of geology treated. There are, however, two paloson- 

 tological works which I ought not to pass over without mention ; 

 for not only are both of them of high importance, but both, I 

 believe and hope, are destined to serve as aids to an advance in the 

 science of Geology. 



The first of these works is Nicholson and Lydekker's ' Manual of 

 Palaeontology,' in which, for the first time, I believe, in the English 

 language, a fairly comprehensive account of the Animal Kingdom, 

 as represented in past times, has been afforded to students. Excel- 

 lent as were Professor Nicholson's earlier editions, they could 

 scarcely be said to suffice as works of reference ; but the present 

 is a great improvement. It may be hoped, though I fear it can 

 scarcely be inferred, that the appearance of the present work will 

 coincide with the commencement of a period of increased attention 

 to Palaeontology in these islands. Hitherto, whilst Geology and 

 Biology have been fairly studied in this country, and whilst trained 

 students in both sciences have appeared in considerable numbers, 

 palaeontologists have been of ominous rarity. On four diff'erent 

 occasions when a Palaeontologist was required for the Geological 

 Survey of India, a German was selected; and I can personally 

 vouch for the fact that, in one instance, and, I believe, in others, 



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