﻿58 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OP 
  THE 
  GEOLOG-ICAL 
  SOCIETY. 
  

  

  prove 
  a 
  greater 
  benefit 
  to 
  palaeontology, 
  or 
  one 
  that 
  would 
  afford 
  

   greater 
  aid 
  towards 
  carrying 
  out 
  a 
  uniform 
  nomenclature. 
  

  

  The 
  meeting 
  of 
  the 
  Berlin 
  Congress, 
  which 
  was 
  originally 
  to 
  have 
  

   been 
  held 
  in 
  1884, 
  was 
  postponed 
  for 
  a 
  year, 
  because 
  it 
  was 
  thought 
  

   by 
  the 
  Committee 
  of 
  Organization 
  that 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  cholera 
  in 
  

   Southern 
  Europe 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  year 
  might 
  seriously 
  interfere 
  with 
  the 
  

   attendance 
  of 
  geologists. 
  The 
  Congress 
  met 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  September 
  

   1885, 
  and 
  was 
  well 
  attended, 
  166 
  German 
  members 
  and 
  86 
  of 
  other 
  

   nationalities 
  being 
  present. 
  The 
  number 
  of 
  inscribed 
  members 
  

   absent 
  or 
  present 
  was 
  456. 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  evident 
  from 
  the 
  very 
  beginning 
  that 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  marked 
  

   contrast 
  between 
  the 
  Berlin 
  meeting 
  and 
  that 
  of 
  Bologna. 
  How 
  far 
  

   this 
  was 
  due 
  to 
  a 
  change 
  of 
  scene, 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  bulk 
  of 
  

   the 
  assembly 
  belonged 
  in 
  one 
  case 
  to 
  the 
  Latin 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  other 
  to 
  

   the 
  Teutonic 
  race, 
  it 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  say. 
  These 
  cannot 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  

   sole 
  causes 
  of 
  the 
  differences, 
  for 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  principal 
  actors 
  were 
  

   unchanged, 
  and 
  the 
  questions 
  of 
  nomenclature 
  brought 
  before 
  the 
  

   meeting 
  were 
  susceptible 
  of 
  treatment 
  precisely 
  similar 
  to 
  that 
  

   employed 
  at 
  the 
  Congress 
  of 
  Bologna. 
  There 
  can, 
  however, 
  be 
  no 
  

   doubt 
  that 
  a 
  strong 
  reaction 
  had 
  set 
  in 
  against 
  the 
  attempt 
  to 
  decide 
  

   scientific 
  questions 
  by 
  the 
  vote 
  of 
  a 
  majority 
  ; 
  and 
  in 
  one 
  instance, 
  

   at 
  least, 
  on 
  which 
  opinions 
  were 
  greatly 
  divided, 
  the 
  question 
  as 
  to 
  

   whether 
  the 
  Permian 
  should 
  be 
  regarded 
  as 
  a 
  distinct 
  system 
  or 
  

   united 
  to 
  the 
  Carboniferous, 
  the 
  assembly 
  deliberately 
  abstained 
  

   from 
  voting. 
  This 
  question 
  had 
  already 
  been 
  discussed 
  in 
  the 
  

   Nomenclature 
  Committee 
  at 
  Zurich, 
  and 
  the 
  numbers 
  who 
  voted 
  on 
  

   each 
  side 
  were 
  equal. 
  

  

  It 
  may 
  here 
  be 
  pointed 
  out 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  great 
  difference 
  between 
  

   a 
  vote 
  in 
  a 
  body 
  consisting 
  almost 
  entirely 
  of 
  geologists 
  familiar 
  with 
  

   the 
  subject 
  and 
  of 
  varying 
  nationalities, 
  as 
  are 
  those 
  composing 
  the 
  

   Committee 
  of 
  Nomenclature, 
  and 
  a 
  vote 
  in 
  a 
  body 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  large 
  

   majority 
  belongs 
  to 
  one 
  nationality 
  and 
  is 
  composed 
  to 
  a 
  great 
  extent 
  

   of 
  those 
  who 
  have 
  not 
  paid 
  particular 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  details 
  under 
  

   discussion. 
  

  

  As 
  a 
  result 
  of 
  the 
  meetings 
  in 
  Berlin, 
  the 
  proposals 
  of 
  the 
  Map 
  

   Committee 
  for 
  the 
  classification 
  of 
  both 
  sedimentary 
  and 
  igneous 
  rocks 
  

   were 
  accepted 
  with 
  a 
  few 
  modifications. 
  Two 
  questions, 
  however, 
  

   were 
  especially 
  left 
  over 
  to 
  the 
  next 
  Congress, 
  which 
  was 
  appointed 
  

   to 
  be 
  held 
  in 
  London 
  last 
  year. 
  These 
  questions 
  were, 
  the 
  arrange- 
  

   ment 
  to 
  be 
  adopted 
  for 
  the 
  Lower 
  Palaeozoic 
  system 
  or 
  systems 
  

   beneath 
  the 
  Devonian, 
  and 
  the 
  classification 
  of 
  the 
  Tertiary 
  and 
  (if 
  

   admitted) 
  Quaternary 
  groups 
  as 
  a 
  whole. 
  

  

  