﻿ANNIVERSARY 
  ADDRESS 
  OP 
  THE 
  PRESIDENT. 
  59 
  

  

  A 
  considerable 
  proportion 
  of 
  the 
  time 
  devoted 
  to 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  

   Congress 
  at 
  Berlin 
  was 
  occupied 
  by 
  the 
  reading 
  of 
  papers 
  on 
  various 
  

   geological 
  subjects, 
  several 
  of 
  them 
  not 
  relating 
  to 
  the 
  questions 
  

   before 
  the 
  Cougress. 
  Similar 
  papers 
  were 
  sent 
  to 
  Bologna, 
  but 
  were 
  

   not 
  read, 
  though 
  they 
  were 
  inserted 
  in 
  the 
  General 
  Keport. 
  

  

  The 
  Reports 
  from 
  the 
  British 
  subcommittees 
  on 
  geological 
  classifi- 
  

   cation 
  and 
  nomenclature 
  were 
  presented 
  at 
  Berlin 
  as 
  a 
  whole 
  (some 
  

   had 
  been 
  previously 
  distributed), 
  but 
  without 
  the 
  preface 
  sub- 
  

   sequently 
  added 
  in 
  the 
  edition 
  of 
  1888. 
  These 
  Reports 
  differed 
  

   materially 
  from 
  any 
  that 
  had 
  previously 
  been 
  presented. 
  They 
  were 
  

   far 
  more 
  detailed, 
  and 
  contained 
  a 
  history 
  of 
  each 
  stratigraphical 
  

   subdivision, 
  and 
  much 
  information 
  concerning 
  the 
  distribution 
  and 
  

   relations 
  to 
  each 
  other 
  of 
  the 
  various 
  series, 
  stages, 
  and 
  substages, 
  

   so 
  as 
  to 
  afford 
  an 
  epitome, 
  in 
  detail, 
  of 
  the 
  stratigraphy 
  of 
  the 
  sedi- 
  

   mentary 
  rocks 
  occurring 
  in 
  Great 
  Britain 
  and 
  Ireland. 
  To 
  the 
  

   consideration 
  of 
  these 
  Reports 
  I 
  shall 
  return 
  in 
  the 
  sequel. 
  

  

  The 
  Committees 
  for 
  nomenclature 
  and 
  for 
  the 
  map 
  of 
  Europe 
  were 
  

   reappointed, 
  with 
  but 
  trifling 
  alterations, 
  at 
  Berlin 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  meetings 
  

   between 
  1885 
  and 
  1888 
  were 
  comparatively 
  unimportant. 
  Five 
  

   members 
  only 
  of 
  the 
  Nomenclature 
  Committee, 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  full 
  

   number 
  (20), 
  met 
  at 
  Geneva 
  in 
  1886, 
  and 
  eight 
  at 
  Manchester 
  

   in 
  1887. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  conclusions 
  arrived 
  at 
  by 
  the 
  first 
  meeting, 
  

   with 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  modification 
  of 
  the 
  Bologna 
  decisions, 
  met 
  with 
  

   disapproval 
  at 
  the 
  second 
  — 
  a 
  circumstance 
  mainly 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  difficulty 
  

   of 
  adopting 
  the 
  same 
  terms 
  in 
  all 
  languages. 
  

  

  Finally, 
  the 
  fourth 
  Congress 
  was 
  held 
  last 
  year 
  in 
  this 
  city, 
  and 
  

   brought 
  together 
  a 
  larger 
  body 
  of 
  geologists 
  than 
  any 
  previous 
  

   meeting. 
  The 
  whole 
  number 
  of 
  members 
  was 
  830 
  ; 
  of 
  these 
  407 
  

   were 
  present, 
  256 
  being 
  from 
  the 
  British 
  Isles 
  and 
  151 
  from 
  other 
  

   countries. 
  It 
  must, 
  however, 
  be 
  remembered 
  that 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  

   ladies 
  were 
  admitted. 
  The 
  number 
  of 
  well-known 
  geologists 
  was 
  

   large 
  ; 
  as 
  an 
  instance, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  mentioned 
  that 
  9 
  of 
  the 
  Society's 
  

   Foreign 
  Members 
  and 
  13 
  Foreign 
  Correspondents 
  attended 
  the 
  

   meeting. 
  

  

  A 
  fresh 
  change 
  took 
  place 
  in 
  the 
  method 
  of 
  procedure. 
  At 
  

   Bologna 
  the 
  reports 
  drawn 
  up 
  by 
  the 
  Secretaries 
  of 
  the 
  different 
  

   Committees 
  were 
  discussed 
  paragraph 
  by 
  paragraph, 
  and 
  accepted, 
  

   modified, 
  or 
  rejected 
  after 
  a 
  regular 
  discussion. 
  At 
  Berlin 
  certain 
  

   parts 
  of 
  the 
  Reports 
  were 
  accepted 
  with 
  little 
  or 
  no 
  modification, 
  othery 
  

   postponed. 
  In 
  London 
  the 
  Reports 
  were 
  almost 
  ignored, 
  and 
  only 
  

   three 
  subjects 
  were 
  discussed 
  ; 
  two 
  of 
  these 
  were 
  the 
  questions 
  already 
  

   mentioned, 
  relating 
  to 
  the 
  classification 
  of 
  Lower 
  Palaeozoic 
  and 
  of 
  

  

  