228 BLANFORD : GEOLOGICAL CONGRESS 



applied to the names of systems (or Periods) for the series (or Epochs) 

 into which the systems are divided. Thus instead of upper, middle, and 

 lower Cretaceous or Tertiary (Tertiary is regarded, perhaps rightly, 

 as a system of the Cenozoic group) we are to talk and write of Palaeo- 

 cretaceous, Meso-cretaceous and Neo-cretaceous, Palaeotertiary, 

 Mesotertiary, and Neotertiary, or, if we adopt the desinences homop- 

 hones beloved of Professor Renevier, we may find ourselves committed 

 to terms like Neo-cretacic and Meso-tertiaric. It is to be expected 

 that a sense of humour will restrain geologists in general from ventur- 

 ing upon these very barbarous compounds. 



The Committee on glaciers report the progress made in the study 

 of their subject^ and this is considerable, especially with regard to 

 the secular variation of the ice*flows. The report of the Committee 

 on the foundation of a Journal of Petrography supplies a scheme for 

 the proposed publication. 



Three new International Committees were appointed, two on the 

 proposal of Sir A. Geikie and one to deal with a subject brought 

 forward by MM. Oehlert and Kilian. Of the first two one is in- 

 tended to introduce greater uniformity into the stud)rof the coasts in 

 the Northern hemisphere, the other for co-operation in geological 

 investigation, in order that observations, for instance, on earthquakes 

 or on the progress of subaerial denudation, should be systematic, and 

 that experiments should be similarly conducted, so that the results 

 may be easily compared. The importance of this study, to which 

 Sir A. Geikie has repeatedly called attention, cannot be questioned. 

 A communication from Mr, T. G. Chamberlin of Chicago, with a 

 similar proposal, was also taken into consideration. The third 

 Committee was charged with the arrangements for publishing, by 

 means of photography, repetitions of the earlier figures, now often 

 very difficult of access, of various fossil types, and also of photo- 

 graphs of the types themselves, when practicable. 



The above I believe is a general account of the work of the Con- 

 gress, as distinguished from its amusements. Amongst the latter 

 may be classed the various excursions to localities of geological 

 ( 4 ) 



