xlvi PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [May 1895, 



abundance may be formed from the fact that Mr. Harrison has 

 collected more than 400, within a radius of 5 miles of Ightham. 



Mr. Harrison's discoveries in the Plateau- gravels of Kent have 

 resulted in important communications from Prof. Prestwich to this 

 and other Societies, and I now beg you to convey to Mr. Harrison 

 this Award, as a slight testimony of the interest which the Council 

 have taken in his work and of their desire to aid him therein. 



Prof. Rupert Jones, in reply, said : — 

 Mr. President, — 



I shall have very great pleasure in conveying this Award to 

 Mr. Benjamin Harrison, and, with your permission, I will read 

 the following note which I have received from him : — 



' It is difficult for me to express my thanks for the honour con- 

 ferred upon me, and for the kind words of the President. 



' At first I carried on my geological investigations almost alone, 

 but was encouraged by Professor Prestwich and Sir John Evans ; 

 and my work soon developed into a systematic search for Mint 

 Implements in the Yalleys of the Shode, Medway, and Darent, 

 and more recently on the Chalk Plateau. 



' Some of the Stone Implements thus found, which were used by 

 an ancient Kentish people, are so rude that it is with diffidence that, 

 by some persous, they have been accepted as the handiwork of Man. 

 But it is an evidence of the great interest which they create that, 

 while the question of their origin has been a subject of doubt in 

 some quarters, the Society has on this occasion and in this manner 

 encouraged further search for these geological relics. 



'This chapter in the early history of mankind is yet very 

 fragmentary, but I confidently anticipate the discovery and careful 

 study of further material for its completion by some of the many 

 distinguished observers who have interested themselves in the 

 subject.' 



Award oe the Bigsby Medal. 



In handing the Bigsby Medal to the Hon. T. F. Bayard, 

 Ambassador of the United States, for transmission to Charles D. 

 Walcott, Esq., F.G.S., Director of the United States Geological 

 Survey, the President addressed him as follows : — 



