

[ 474. } 

 LXX. Proceedings of Learned Societies. 



ROYAL GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF CORNWALL. 



Twenty -Seventh Annual Report of the Council. 



THE subject which naturally first presents itself to the Council in 

 the preparation of their Report, is the irreparable loss the Society- 

 has sustained by the death of its illustrious and venerable President 

 (Mr. Davies Gilbert) ; to whose early, active and liberal patronage, 

 in conjunction with the efforts of Dr. Paris, it first owed its exist- 

 ence, and by its connexion with his name its labours have been 

 more extensively known, and far more generally acknowledged, 

 than they might otherwise have been. 



The Council would fain have indulged in more grateful allusions, 

 than a bare official form permits, to the numerous advantages and 

 benefits the Society has owed to his kind and continued benefac- 

 tions during the twenty-six years it was honoured by his presidence 

 over its affairs — but that they have been anticipated by other pens 

 — yet they cannot look back on his kind and considerate conduct 

 without the feeling that every member of the Society has, by his 

 loss, a friend less in the world. 



At the foundation of the Society, twenty-seven years ago, the 

 value of, and necessity for scientific education among our practical 

 miners was barely thought of ; yet it was among the very first and 

 most important objects of its founders : and to them it is the sin- 

 cerest matter of gratulation that a subject so often enforced from its 

 chair, and recommended by its patrons and in its reports, is at length 

 recognized as one of paramount utility and importance. 



This has been shown, not only by the foundation of Professor- 

 ships for civil and mining engineering in the academic institutions 

 of London and Durham, but by the institution of a Mining School 

 in Cornwall, which, although first thought of as the result of a due 

 appreciation of the public virtues of one of the earliest and most 

 munificent friends of this Society (the late Lord de Dunstanville), 

 has been carried into practical effect by the liberality of Sir Charles 

 Lemon, by whose enlightened and patriotic exertions its permanent 

 existence will, we trust, be secured. We look forward to the period 

 when the result of the studies pursued in this institution, united to 

 the extensive practical knowledge to be derived from exploring the 

 variety of our rocks, — the different characters of our " lodes," and 

 the vast mechanical powers employed in working our mines, — will 

 raise our miners far above their present position, although even now 

 they bear the character (which they richly deserve) of the best and 

 most useful practical miners in the world. 



Much has been said of a reception-room for plans, — and such a 

 depository has from the foundation of the Society been opened here, 

 and to some extent made useful by the liberality and intelligence 

 of some of our mine agents. But when the labour of preparing 

 them — highly valued as they are — and the want of adequate re- 

 muneration, are considered, we need not wonder at the comparative 



