ANNIVEKSARr ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. XXXIX 



among themselves on a general explanation of the occurrence of that 

 important rock. 



In 1852 Mr. Hopkins proceeded to Australia as the professional 

 adviser of some of the gold-mining companies, and applied advan- 

 tageously in the new colony the results of his former experience in 

 the treatment of the ores of the precious metal. He communicated 

 to the Society on his return, in 1854, a brief account of his views 

 on the gold-bearing rocks of Victoria. During several years after- 

 wards he was often occupied in visiting home and foreign districts 

 for the purpose of reporting on their mining-capabilities, and for 

 the last two years devoted much time and practical experiment to 

 the subject of demagnetizing iron ships. On this latter subject he 

 suggested novel methods, which he did not live to carry out to com- 

 pletion. 



The late Admiral Theobald Jones, M.P., was born in 1790, 

 entered the Navy in 1803, and up to the close of the war was con- 

 stantly occupied in active service in the North Sea and in the Medi- 

 terranean. For many years he sat in Parliament for Londonderry, 

 and in his leisure time formed a large and fine collection of fish- 

 remains from the Carboniferous Limestone of Ireland. 



, On proceeding to pass under review some of the recent works 

 which have thrown a light on one portion or another of our Science, 

 I would fain commence by a few words on the progress of that de- 

 partment which most readily commands the appreciation of the 

 public, viz. the exploration of the mineral structure of the country, 

 which has been set on foot by every Government of Europe and by 

 that of the United States. 



. The Geological Survey of the United Kingdom is advancing ra- 

 pidly, especially in the coal-fields. The maps of the Barnsley dis- 

 trict, on the scale of 6 inches to a mile, are nearly completed, and a 

 considerable part of the Lower Coal-measures and Millstone -grit has 

 been surveyed as far as the north end of the coal-field. The survey 

 of the Lancashire coal-field is now complete, and the 6 -inch maps 

 are in the hands of the engraver. 



jSTearly 300 square miles of the Northumberland and Durham 

 coal-field have been surveyed, and the publication of some of the 

 new maps of the area is far advanced. 



In other areas, the Silurian and adjoining formations are being 

 mapped in Cumberland and Westmoreland ; and in Northampton- 

 shire the survey of the Oolitic rocks is progressing northward. The 

 Eocene formations on both sides of the Thames, and far to the north, 

 have been entirely surveyed, and the maps are being engraved ; and 

 the Ehaetic or Penarth beds are being added to the previously pub- 

 lished maps of the west of England. 



AYhetherthe Government be anxious to prove their sense of the 

 practical value of our science, or only to get a certain piece of work 

 more rapidly out of hand, they have taken a measure well calculated 



