﻿ANNIVERSARY 
  ADDRESS 
  OP 
  THE 
  PRESIDENT. 
  43 
  

  

  of 
  his 
  naval 
  career 
  the 
  late 
  Admiral 
  was 
  attached 
  to 
  the 
  surveying 
  

   branch 
  of 
  the 
  Wavy, 
  and 
  served 
  almost 
  continuously 
  from 
  1827 
  till 
  

   1863 
  in 
  the 
  Mediterranean, 
  at 
  first 
  under 
  Captain 
  Thomas 
  Graves, 
  

   in 
  H.M.SS. 
  ' 
  Mastiff' 
  and 
  ' 
  Beacon,' 
  and 
  subsequently, 
  from 
  1847, 
  

   in 
  command 
  successively 
  of 
  H.M.SS. 
  ' 
  Voyage,' 
  ' 
  Spitfire,' 
  and 
  

   ' 
  Medina.' 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  Crimean 
  war, 
  the 
  ' 
  Spitfire,' 
  under 
  Commander 
  Spratt, 
  

   was 
  attached 
  to 
  the 
  fleet 
  then 
  engaged 
  in 
  hostilities 
  with 
  Eussia. 
  

   He 
  took 
  part 
  in 
  the 
  siege 
  of 
  Sebastopol, 
  planned 
  the 
  attacks 
  on 
  

   Kertch 
  and 
  Kinburn, 
  and 
  led 
  the 
  allied 
  fleets 
  to 
  their 
  positions 
  at 
  

   the 
  latter 
  place. 
  He 
  made 
  numerous 
  surveys 
  required 
  for 
  the 
  

   anchorage 
  or 
  operations 
  of 
  the 
  fleet, 
  and 
  repeatedly 
  received 
  the 
  

   acknowledgments 
  of 
  Admiral 
  Sir 
  E. 
  Lyons, 
  Commanding- 
  in-Chief, 
  

   for 
  his 
  services. 
  For 
  these 
  he 
  was 
  promoted 
  to 
  the 
  rank 
  of 
  Captain 
  

   in 
  January 
  1855, 
  and 
  received 
  the 
  Companionship 
  of 
  the 
  Eath 
  and 
  

   the 
  rank 
  of 
  Officer 
  in 
  the 
  Legion 
  of 
  Honour 
  at 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  

   war. 
  

  

  After 
  the 
  war 
  Captain 
  Spratt, 
  in 
  command 
  of 
  the 
  'Medina,' 
  

   was 
  again 
  engaged 
  in 
  hydrographical 
  surveys, 
  chiefly 
  in 
  the 
  Greek 
  

   Archipelago, 
  till 
  1863, 
  when 
  he 
  returned 
  to 
  England, 
  and 
  did 
  not 
  

   again 
  serve 
  actively 
  afloat. 
  He 
  was 
  Commissioner 
  of 
  Fisheries 
  

   from 
  1866 
  to 
  1873, 
  and 
  Acting-Conservator 
  of 
  the 
  Mersey 
  from 
  

   1879 
  till 
  his 
  death 
  at 
  his 
  residence, 
  Clare 
  Lodge, 
  Tunbridge 
  Wells. 
  

   He 
  became 
  a 
  Fellow 
  of 
  this 
  Society 
  in 
  1843, 
  and 
  was 
  a 
  Member 
  of 
  the 
  

   Council 
  in 
  1866 
  and 
  1867, 
  and 
  again 
  from 
  1876 
  till 
  1879. 
  

  

  Although 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  scientific 
  work 
  of 
  our 
  late 
  Fellow 
  

   was 
  that 
  immediately 
  connected 
  with 
  the 
  surveying 
  branch 
  of 
  the 
  

   Navy 
  — 
  and 
  he 
  was 
  well 
  known 
  for 
  the 
  excellence 
  of 
  his 
  surveys 
  — 
  

   he 
  was 
  a 
  man 
  of 
  wide 
  sympathy 
  and 
  cultured 
  taste, 
  and 
  he 
  not 
  only 
  

   made 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  opportunities 
  presented 
  to 
  him, 
  as 
  to 
  many 
  other 
  

   naval 
  officers, 
  for 
  studying 
  the 
  geology 
  of 
  the 
  regions 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  was 
  

   engaged, 
  but 
  he 
  devoted 
  much 
  time 
  to 
  tracing 
  the 
  ancient 
  history 
  of 
  

   the 
  Levant, 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  identification 
  of 
  the 
  cities, 
  rivers, 
  mountains, 
  

   and 
  seaports 
  of 
  the 
  classical 
  Greek 
  writers. 
  At 
  an 
  early 
  period 
  of 
  

   his 
  career 
  he 
  had 
  the 
  advantage 
  of 
  being 
  associated 
  for 
  two 
  years 
  

   with 
  the 
  late 
  Professor 
  Edward 
  Forbes, 
  who 
  was 
  engaged 
  as 
  

   Naturalist 
  in 
  the 
  ' 
  Beacon,' 
  under 
  Captain 
  Thomas 
  Graves, 
  from 
  

   1841 
  to 
  1843, 
  and 
  who 
  then 
  made 
  the 
  observations 
  on 
  the 
  bathy- 
  

   metrical 
  distribution 
  of 
  marine 
  life 
  that 
  led 
  to 
  his 
  well-known 
  

   arrangement 
  of 
  the 
  fauna 
  in 
  submarine 
  zones. 
  There 
  can 
  be 
  little 
  

   doubt 
  that 
  both 
  Lieut. 
  Spratt 
  and 
  Prof. 
  Edward 
  Forbes 
  profited 
  by 
  

  

  