﻿ANNIVERSARY 
  ADDRESS 
  OP 
  THE 
  PRESIDENT. 
  6$ 
  

  

  is 
  rightly 
  appreciated, 
  there 
  is 
  but 
  little 
  hope 
  of 
  any 
  sound 
  classifi- 
  

   cation. 
  

  

  There 
  is, 
  however, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  time-words 
  adopted 
  at 
  Bologna 
  that 
  

   must 
  in 
  English 
  be 
  left 
  for 
  unrestricted 
  use, 
  for 
  the 
  simple 
  reason 
  

   that 
  we 
  cannot 
  replace 
  it. 
  This 
  is 
  age. 
  It 
  is 
  impossible 
  to 
  avoid 
  

   writing 
  of 
  strata 
  and 
  fossils 
  as 
  of 
  Palaeozoic 
  age, 
  of 
  Jurassic 
  age, 
  &c. 
  ; 
  

   and 
  although 
  this 
  might 
  be 
  done 
  without 
  ceasing 
  to 
  use 
  the 
  term 
  as 
  

   the 
  time 
  equivalent 
  of 
  stage, 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  better 
  to 
  replace 
  the 
  word 
  

   by 
  another, 
  or 
  if 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  subdivisional 
  terms 
  is 
  diminished, 
  

   to 
  omit 
  age 
  altogether. 
  I 
  would 
  suggest 
  to 
  British 
  geologists 
  for 
  

   consideration 
  some 
  such 
  scheme 
  as 
  the 
  following 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  Stratification. 
  Time. 
  Example. 
  

  

  Class. 
  Era. 
  Palaeozoic. 
  

  

  System. 
  Period. 
  Jurassic. 
  

  

  Stage. 
  Epoch. 
  Oxford 
  Clay 
  (Oxfordian). 
  

  

  If 
  this 
  or 
  some 
  corresponding 
  plan 
  were 
  adopted 
  there 
  would 
  be 
  

   no 
  necessity 
  for 
  the 
  adoption 
  of 
  the 
  word 
  terrane 
  proposed 
  by 
  Prof. 
  

   Gilbert 
  to 
  be 
  used 
  for 
  a 
  stratigraphical 
  subdivision 
  of 
  any 
  magni- 
  

   tude, 
  though 
  the 
  language 
  would 
  gain 
  by 
  the 
  employment 
  of 
  such 
  

   a 
  term. 
  

  

  It 
  must 
  not 
  be 
  forgotten 
  that 
  if, 
  as 
  already 
  noticed, 
  the 
  Bologna 
  

   Congress 
  failed 
  to 
  define 
  the 
  subdivisions 
  that 
  it 
  sanctioned, 
  the 
  

   failure 
  depended 
  very 
  much 
  on 
  the 
  inherent 
  impossibility 
  of 
  the 
  

   task. 
  There 
  is 
  absolutely 
  no 
  scale 
  by 
  which 
  periods 
  or 
  epochs 
  can 
  

   be 
  measured 
  ; 
  all 
  that 
  can 
  be 
  done 
  is 
  to 
  enumerate 
  certain 
  divisions 
  

   of 
  geological 
  time 
  as 
  represented 
  by 
  particular 
  strata 
  and 
  enact 
  

   that 
  such 
  subdivisions 
  shall 
  rank 
  as 
  periods 
  or 
  epochs. 
  As 
  the 
  

   stratigraphical 
  divisions 
  are 
  utterly 
  dissimilar 
  in 
  different 
  countries, 
  

   the 
  determination 
  for 
  one 
  region 
  will 
  afford 
  but 
  little 
  aid 
  in 
  another. 
  

   All 
  that 
  can 
  be 
  done, 
  in 
  short, 
  is, 
  as 
  has 
  been 
  admirably 
  pointed 
  

   out 
  by 
  Professor 
  Gilbert, 
  to 
  adopt 
  an 
  admittedly 
  arbitrary 
  and 
  

   empirical 
  scale 
  of 
  systems 
  for 
  the 
  sedimentary 
  rocks 
  of 
  Western 
  

   Europe, 
  as 
  being 
  the 
  best 
  known, 
  and 
  to 
  employ 
  this 
  scale 
  for 
  

   comparison 
  in 
  other 
  countries. 
  

  

  The 
  classification 
  of 
  the 
  geological 
  sequence 
  has, 
  in 
  fact, 
  been 
  

   founded 
  on 
  no 
  recognized 
  system, 
  but 
  has 
  grown 
  up 
  gradually. 
  

   Just 
  as 
  in 
  a 
  newly 
  discovered 
  country, 
  or 
  in 
  a 
  barbarous 
  continent 
  

   in 
  process 
  of 
  annexation 
  by 
  more 
  civilized 
  peoples, 
  a 
  colony 
  has 
  

   been 
  founded 
  here 
  and 
  there, 
  until 
  by 
  irregular 
  growth, 
  depending 
  

   for 
  its 
  progress 
  on 
  various 
  circumstances, 
  the 
  borders 
  of 
  the 
  different 
  

  

  