ANN1VER8ART ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 8 1 



widest sympathj' with all branches of Natural Science. By inter- 

 course with Henslow, Darwin's flagging interest in science was 

 rekindled and kept alive. It is a proud boast for a university to 

 have nourished the intellectual development of Darwin ; and as that 

 university has in the past remained faithful to the memory of 

 Newton — making his mathematical teachings the characteristic and 

 leading feature of its studies — so, we may hope, it will in the future 

 aim at that complete union of geological and biological investigation 

 of which Darwin's labours constitute so grand an example. 



In the dedication of his ' Journal of llesearchcs,' Darwin acknow- 

 ledged '* with grateful pleasure " that " the chief part of whatever 

 scientific merit this journal and the other works of the author may 

 possess, has been derived from studying the well-known and admir- 

 able ' Principles of Geology ; ' " and well do I recollect how, in almost 

 every conversation I had with him, he would enlarge with warmth 

 of feeling upon his indebtedness to Lyell, not only for his lucid 

 teaching, but for his constant and helpful sympathy. How he 

 used to speak in terms of reverence of his " Master," and extol the 

 magnanimity of one who, though twelve years his senior, had aban- 

 doned — slowly and cautiously, as was the habit of his mind, yet in 

 the end completely and ungrudgingly — his own conclusions and pre- 

 possessions, and had accepted the doctrines of a pupil ! 



Of Darwin's three geological books, the record of the observations 

 made by him during the voyage of the ' Beagle,' it is impossible to 

 speak in terms of praise that will seem, to those acquainted with the 

 merits of those admirable writings, to be too high ; and some por- 

 tions of those works, especially the chapters dealing with the great 

 problem of foliation, are, I am convinced, very far indeed from 

 having received from geologists the amount of attention which they 

 deserve. 



After Darwin's return to England, in 1836, his attention was for 

 some years almost exclusively devoted to geological researches ; and 

 it was to this Society and to its officers that he constantly came for 

 help, advice, and sympathy. He writes at this time, " If I was not 

 more inclined for geology than the other branches of Natural His- 

 tory, I am sure Mr, Lyell's and Lonsdale's kindness ought to fix me." 



Before reaching England, Darwin had written to Henslow from 

 St. Helena, on July 9th, 1836, asking that he might be proposed a 

 Fellow of this Society, and on November the 30th of that year he 

 was elected. In the following February he became a member of 

 our Council, and at the next Anniversary, in 1838, undertook the 



VOL. XLIV. h 



