﻿ANNIVERSARY 
  ADDRESS 
  OF 
  THE 
  PRESIDENT. 
  49 
  

  

  win, 
  and 
  if 
  Professor 
  Blake 
  does 
  not 
  achieve 
  success 
  I 
  am 
  sure 
  he 
  

   must 
  feel 
  with 
  Pontius 
  in 
  Addison's 
  Cato 
  that 
  he 
  deserves 
  it. 
  It 
  

   will 
  probably 
  be 
  some 
  years 
  before 
  any 
  decisive 
  verdict 
  can 
  be 
  given 
  

   as 
  to 
  the 
  validity 
  of 
  Prof. 
  Blake's 
  views. 
  The 
  Pre-Cambrian 
  

   rocks 
  are 
  confessedly 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  puzzles 
  of 
  modern 
  geology, 
  and 
  

   whoever 
  produces 
  the 
  clue 
  to 
  their 
  history 
  will 
  have 
  deserved 
  well 
  

   of 
  geologists. 
  Meantime 
  there 
  is 
  this 
  unquestionable 
  advantage 
  in 
  

   Prof. 
  Blake's 
  position, 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  proposed 
  a 
  definite 
  classification 
  

   founded 
  upon 
  detailed 
  observations, 
  to 
  be 
  confirmed 
  or 
  disproved 
  ; 
  

   and 
  a 
  definite 
  classification, 
  like 
  a 
  fixed 
  position 
  in 
  war, 
  simplifies 
  

   both 
  attack 
  and 
  defence. 
  

  

  The 
  last 
  of 
  the 
  longer 
  papers 
  published 
  during 
  the 
  past 
  year, 
  

   though 
  not 
  equal 
  in 
  length 
  to 
  those 
  already 
  mentioned, 
  is 
  Pro- 
  

   fessor 
  A. 
  H. 
  Green's 
  account 
  of 
  the* 
  Geology 
  and 
  Physical 
  Geo- 
  

   graphy 
  of 
  the 
  Cape 
  Colony. 
  This 
  paper, 
  although 
  founded 
  on 
  com- 
  

   paratively 
  brief 
  observations 
  by 
  the 
  Author, 
  has 
  furnished 
  a 
  greatly 
  

   needed 
  epitome 
  of 
  the 
  somewhat 
  conflicting 
  accounts 
  given 
  by 
  

   previous 
  writers, 
  and 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  has 
  afforded 
  a 
  concise 
  

   readable 
  sketch 
  of 
  South- 
  African 
  geology 
  by 
  one 
  who 
  has 
  been 
  able 
  

   to 
  study 
  the 
  subject 
  on 
  the 
  spot. 
  Almost 
  simultaneously 
  with 
  the 
  

   appearance 
  of 
  Prof. 
  Green's 
  paper, 
  an 
  account 
  by 
  Dr. 
  A. 
  Schenk 
  of 
  

   " 
  the 
  Geological 
  Development 
  of 
  South 
  Africa 
  " 
  was 
  published 
  in 
  

   Petermann's 
  ' 
  Mittheilungen,' 
  and 
  the 
  classification 
  adopted 
  for 
  the 
  

   sedimentary 
  formations 
  is 
  practically 
  identical 
  with 
  Prof. 
  Green's. 
  

   The 
  relations 
  of 
  that 
  great 
  system 
  of 
  South-African 
  freshwater 
  beds 
  

   known 
  to 
  most 
  Cape 
  geologists 
  by 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  Karoo 
  (the 
  term 
  is 
  

   applied 
  only 
  to 
  a 
  subdivision, 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Green) 
  to 
  the 
  underlying 
  

   rocks 
  are 
  now 
  fairly 
  known, 
  and 
  the 
  principal 
  problem 
  left 
  is 
  the 
  

   relation 
  between 
  the 
  Upper 
  or 
  Stormberg 
  beds 
  of 
  the 
  Karoo 
  System 
  

   and 
  the 
  Neocomian 
  beds 
  near 
  Algoa 
  Bay. 
  I 
  long 
  since 
  suggested 
  

   the 
  possibility, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  precisely 
  parallel 
  series 
  of 
  conditions 
  in 
  

   India, 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  being 
  in 
  part, 
  at 
  all 
  events, 
  of 
  contemporaneous 
  

   origin. 
  

  

  The 
  six 
  papers 
  mentioned 
  occupy 
  together 
  366 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  859 
  

   pages 
  in 
  the 
  last 
  year's 
  Quarterly 
  Journal 
  (exclusive 
  of 
  the 
  Proceed- 
  

   ings). 
  So 
  far 
  as 
  my 
  official 
  experience 
  of 
  the 
  Society's 
  publications 
  

   has 
  extended, 
  an 
  equally 
  large 
  proportion 
  of 
  papers 
  with 
  an 
  average 
  

   length 
  of 
  60 
  pages 
  is 
  unusual. 
  But 
  all 
  the 
  papers 
  named, 
  and 
  the 
  

   majority 
  of 
  them 
  in 
  an 
  eminent 
  degree, 
  possess 
  the 
  character 
  that 
  

   my 
  predecessor 
  in 
  this 
  Chair 
  at 
  the 
  last 
  anniversary 
  meeting 
  of 
  the 
  

   Society 
  laid 
  down 
  as 
  justifying 
  admission 
  to 
  the 
  pages 
  of 
  the 
  Journal. 
  

  

  