lx PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [May I9II,. 



amount of original work which he carried out. And even this 

 latter does not give a true measure of his influence for the good of 

 his science in his insistence on extreme closeness of observation 

 and accuracy in reasoning. 1 



The chief geological event of the past year has been the holding 

 of the Eleventh International Geological Congress at Stockholm. 

 The Congress was attended by several Fellows of the Society, 

 including the ex-Pre3ident and the Treasurer. An extremely 

 interesting and well-organised series of excursions was planned 

 and carried out, the meetings were of considerable importance, and 

 the event was further marked by the issue of valuable publications 

 dealing with the geology of Sweden and with the distribution of 

 iron-ores. 



In our own Society the event of first importance has been the 

 unanimous decision of a Special General Meeting to utilise the 

 space now occupied by the Museum for an extension of the Library, 

 and to offer the Society's collection of minerals, rocks, and fossils, 

 with a few exceptions, to one or more of the National Museums of 

 the country. 



This is a welcome solution of the problem which has agitated 

 the Fellows for many years. The accommodation provided by the 

 Apartments is limited, and it is the duty of the Society to employ 

 the space generously placed at its disposal by the Government in 

 the way which will contribute most to the welfare of the Science. 

 The collections occupy a great deal of space, even packed away as 

 they now are. For their proper display much more space than can 

 be given to them would be required, while they would need the 

 constant care and attention of a curator, and the expenditure upon 

 them of an amount of money which the Society could not afford 

 without crippling seriously one or more of its other spheres of activity. 



For many years after the Society was founded geological museums 

 were scarce and difficult of access. It was at that time, therefore, 

 clearly the duty of the Society, and its best service to geology, to 

 offer an asylum to specimens of scientific value and importance, to 

 form the nucleus of a great geological museum, and, at the same 

 time, to afford to students and investigators facilities for the 

 examination and comparison of specimens and types. 



1 Further particulars will be found in Geol. Mag. dec. 5, vol. vii (1910)' 

 p. 575 ; and in Proc. Yorks. Geol. Soc. vol. xvii (1910) p. 159. 



