ANNIVERSAKY MEETING LYELL MEDAL. 43 



row and gazing down upon the magnates of the science seated 

 beneath. Little did either of us dream that the whirligig of time 

 would eventually })lace us where we find ourselves to-day. It is 

 thus no small gratitication to me to be called upon to present to you 

 this Medal, which will not oidy serve to mark the Society's appre- 

 ciation of your work, but which will connect you by another link 

 with the memory of our friend and master, Lyell. 



Prof. Hughes, in reply, said : — 

 Mr. President, — 



I feel that I have, as the senior, been selected to receive this high 

 recognition of the work being carried on by the Cambridge School of 

 Geology. I have not myself been able to offer much to the Society 

 of late, save occasional criticism, but my colleagues, Mr. Marr and 

 Mr. Barker, Fellows of the Society, whose opinions are regarded 

 each year with increasing respect, the one your Secretary, the other 

 on your Council, have from time to time contributed valuable papers, 

 while my other colleague, Mr. Roberts, has also laid before the 

 Society the results of important original observations made by him. 

 The Society knows that it is chiefly to the lecture-room, the museum, 

 and the field-classes that it must look for men to carry on its work 

 in the future. But I must acknowledge in this respect also, that 

 the heaviest work has fallen upon my colleagues. They know, 

 however, that in the administration of the Department, and directly 

 and indirectly in promoting the cause of Science, I help as far 

 as I can. We all work well together, and I feel that they will 

 rejoice with me now, will help to carry back the Lyell Medal in 

 triumph to Cambridge, and will join with me in offering to the 

 Society our warmest thanks for the honour that has been done us. 

 We shall regard it as a stimulus to follow in the steps of the great 

 teacher whose name is commemorated on the Medal, and try always 

 to distinguish clearly between what is proved, what is disproved, 

 and what remains, however plausible, "not proven." 



I am glad that it has fallen to my lot to receive this honour from 

 the hands of an old and valued friend, upon whom has fallen the 

 mantle of Lyell, a mantle in which the warp of science and the weft 

 of literature are so deftly interwoven. 



