﻿ANNIVERSARY 
  ADDRESS 
  OF 
  THE 
  PRESIDENT. 
  37 
  

  

  THE 
  ANNIVERSARY 
  ADDRESS 
  OF 
  THE 
  PRESIDENT, 
  

   W. 
  T. 
  Blanford, 
  LL.D., 
  F.R.S. 
  

  

  Gentlemen, 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  our 
  custom 
  on 
  these 
  occasions, 
  as 
  j^ou 
  are 
  aware, 
  after 
  doing 
  

   honour 
  to 
  those 
  whom 
  the 
  Society 
  regards 
  as 
  worthy 
  of 
  its 
  awards, 
  

   to 
  recall 
  to 
  memory 
  those 
  who, 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  just 
  ter- 
  

   minated, 
  have 
  passed 
  away 
  from 
  amongst 
  us. 
  

  

  Although 
  the 
  tale 
  of 
  our 
  losses 
  is 
  heavy, 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  deaths 
  

   recorded 
  in 
  our 
  list 
  (61 
  Fellows 
  and 
  Foreign 
  Members, 
  to 
  which 
  I 
  

   have 
  to 
  add 
  one 
  Foreign 
  Correspondent, 
  the 
  news 
  of 
  whose 
  death 
  

   has 
  arrived 
  very 
  recently), 
  as 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  explained 
  in 
  the 
  

   Council's 
  Report, 
  gives 
  a 
  somewhat 
  exaggerated 
  idea 
  of 
  it, 
  many 
  of 
  

   the 
  deaths 
  having 
  really 
  takeu 
  place 
  in 
  previous 
  years, 
  although 
  

   they 
  were 
  not 
  reported 
  for 
  want 
  of 
  the 
  information 
  now 
  procured 
  

   through 
  a 
  thorough 
  inquiry 
  by 
  our 
  officers. 
  

  

  Gerhard 
  Vom 
  Rath, 
  Professor 
  of 
  Geology 
  and 
  Mineralogy 
  in 
  the 
  

   University 
  of 
  Bonn, 
  died 
  on 
  the 
  23rd 
  April 
  last. 
  He 
  was 
  born 
  on 
  

   the 
  20th 
  August, 
  1830, 
  at 
  Dinsburg 
  in 
  Prussia. 
  His 
  father, 
  who 
  

   was 
  a 
  successful 
  manufacturer 
  of 
  beetroot 
  sugar, 
  moved 
  with 
  his 
  

   family 
  to 
  Cologne 
  in 
  1840, 
  and 
  Vom 
  Rath's 
  early 
  studies 
  were 
  carried 
  

   on 
  at 
  the 
  Jesuiten-Gynmasium 
  of 
  that 
  city. 
  In 
  1848 
  he 
  attended 
  

   the 
  Rhenish 
  High 
  School 
  at 
  Bonn, 
  and 
  shortly 
  afterwards 
  entered 
  

   the 
  University 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  city, 
  where 
  he 
  remained 
  till 
  1852, 
  when 
  

   he 
  proceeded 
  to 
  Berlin, 
  and 
  continued 
  his 
  studies 
  under 
  Rose, 
  Weiss, 
  

   Rammelsberg, 
  and 
  other 
  distinguished 
  chemists 
  and 
  mineralogists. 
  

   At 
  Berlin 
  he 
  took 
  his 
  Doctor's 
  degree 
  in 
  July 
  1853, 
  taking 
  for 
  his 
  

   thesis 
  a 
  chemical 
  and 
  mineralogical 
  dissertation 
  on 
  the 
  composition 
  

   and 
  alteration-products 
  of 
  Wernerite. 
  

  

  After 
  a 
  journey 
  to 
  Italy, 
  which 
  lasted 
  nine 
  months, 
  and 
  another 
  in 
  

   company 
  with 
  Gustav 
  Rose 
  to 
  Silesia, 
  he 
  returned 
  to 
  Bonn 
  in 
  1856, 
  

   and 
  after 
  assisting 
  Noggerath, 
  then 
  Professor 
  of 
  Geology 
  and 
  

   Director 
  of 
  the 
  Mineralogical 
  Museum, 
  for 
  some 
  years, 
  he 
  was 
  

   appointed 
  Extraordinary 
  Professor 
  in 
  July 
  1863, 
  and 
  Ordinary 
  

   Professor 
  of 
  Geology 
  and 
  Mineralogy 
  in 
  April 
  1872. 
  The 
  Directorship 
  

   of 
  the 
  Mineralogical 
  Museum 
  was 
  placed 
  in 
  his 
  hands 
  in 
  December 
  

   of 
  the 
  same 
  year, 
  on 
  the 
  retirement 
  of 
  Prof. 
  Noggerath. 
  In 
  1873, 
  

   on 
  the 
  death 
  of 
  Gustav 
  Rose, 
  Vom 
  Rath 
  was 
  offered 
  the 
  vacant 
  

  

  