xlviii PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [vol. lxxix, 



researches are international : it is coir pleasure, as well as our duty, 

 to give expression to this aspect of Geology by the bestowal of 

 some of our awards upon foreign colleagues. Over thirty years 

 ago the Geological Society elected you a .Foreign Correspondent, 

 and twenty-three years ago it welcomed you as a Foreign Member : 

 to-day we give a further proof of our appreciation of your services, 

 and of our desire to mark the persistence of the ties of friendship 

 between French and British geologists, by presenting to you the 

 Lyell Medal. 



It is more than half a century since } r ou began your geological 

 career — a career characterized by uninterrupted activity, which has 

 not only brought its own reward in facts discovered and in the 

 advancement of knowledge ; you have also received many honours 

 both at home and abroad. Your researches have been both in- 

 tensive and extensive. You have made the Paris Basin your 

 especial province, investigating the stratigraphy of its sediments, 

 following the crustal movements and the changing geographical 

 conditions; you also qualified yourself by acquiring an intimate 

 knowledge of different groups of recent animals, in order to deal as 

 an expert with its successive faunas. The Paris Basin is classic 

 ground ; to the geologist almost sacred ground : your name will 

 always be associated with the interpretation of its secrets. You 

 have also ranged over wider fields, utilizing facts of observation as 

 a basis of philosophical deduction. On the more practical side you 

 have rendered invaluable service as a maker of maps, and in demon- 

 strating the economic value of a knowledge of the rocks. In 1906 

 you penetrated the strata below the English Channel, and showed 

 that it was not geological difficulties that stood in the way of 

 the construction of a tunnel, but political reasons, which, as you 

 truly said, are ' etrangeres a la question geologique.' Though 

 apparently separate, France and England are united below the 

 Avater. As Dr. Charles Barrois happily said, in a congratulatoiy 

 Address from the University of Lille to our Society in 1907 : — 



' The University teaches her pupils that France and England, though 

 separated only since yesterday by the waters of the Pas-de-Calais, have been 

 joined for millions of years by the solid foundations of the Chalk.' 



May the presentation of this Medal be regarded as the ex- 

 pression of a desire on our part to emphasize the deep-seated 

 nature of the bonds between the two countries. 



