Vol. 69.] ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS OR THE PRESIDENT. Ux 



motion of Swiss glaciers, and on this subject he contributed a series 

 of papers to the 'Archives des Sciences Physiqiies & Naturelles de 

 Geneve.' As a result of these studies, he was led to investigate the 

 granular structures of ice ; to these attention had been first called 

 by Hugi in 1843, but they had not been sufficiently considered in 

 the controversies on the cause of glacier-motion during the middle 

 and latter part of last century. In his paper on ' Le Grain du 

 Glacier/ Eorel laid stress on the marked increase in the size of grain 

 which is observable between the neve and the terminal front of a 

 glacier, and enunciated a ' grain-growth theory ' which, however, 

 he subsequently saw reason to abandon. During his researches he 

 was led to speculate on the causes which controlled the periodic 

 advance and retreat of the Swiss glaciers. It is thanks to him, 

 indeed, that the variations of the Swiss glaciers have been studied 

 since 1880, and that since 1895 an International Commission on 

 Glaciers has been founded which has extended its observations to 

 other lands, including Scandinavia, India, America, and even the 

 Arctic and Antarctic regions. In all, Eorel contributed upwards 

 of fifty papers on this subject alone, and between 1883 and 1895 

 he edited the reports on Glacial Variation which appeared in the 

 pages of the Journal of the Swiss Alpine Club. 



As a result of his researches on seiches, Eorel was led to 

 take an interest in seismological phenomena, and, throwing him- 

 self with his usual enthusiasm into this new subject, he founded 

 in 1878, in association with Hagenbach and Heim, the Swiss 

 Commission for the study of earthquakes. In 1882 he constructed 

 a scale for measuring the degree of intensity of earthquake-shocks, 

 which was almost identical with one suggested at the same time 

 by Prof. De Rossi of Rome. These two scales have since been 

 combined by seismologists, and are known by the name of the 

 ■* Rossi-Forel scale.' 



In meteorology Forel was among the first to point out the 

 connexion between the accumulated temperatures of the year and 

 the amount of sugar present in grapes ; in archaeology and history 

 his name is well known, especially in connexion with investigations 

 on the Lake-Dwellers or ' palafittures,' to quote the name by 

 which he designated these prehistoric peoples, and he was one of 

 the founders of the Societe Vaudoise d'Histoire & dArcheologie, 

 to which he contributed several papers. 



His researches also led him to the study of mirage, and his last 

 communication to the Paris Academy of Sciences, on November 

 27th, 1911, when he was in his 72nd year, dealt with the fata 



