474 International Geological Congress. 



It w.as time for the Congress to determine the place of meet- 

 ing of the 4th Congress of 1888. The council had to propose 

 that the next meeting be held in the year 1888, between the 

 fifteenth day of August and the fifteenth day of September; 

 that London be the place of meeting and that Messrs. Geikie, 

 Blanford, Hughes, and Topley be the committee to prepare for 

 the proper reception of this Congress. Professor Hughes thought 

 it had been very appropriate to cede to Germany ihe place of 

 meeting of the present Congress, and its sucqess had justified 

 his opinion. He repeated his statement made to the council, 

 that he had a petition signed by one hundred and thirty-seven 

 English geologists requesting the Congress to meet in London. 

 This petition included the names of the Duke of Argyle, the 

 Earl of Ennisldllen, and some of the most eminent geologists 

 of England ; and he hoped that England would be chosen as the 

 next place of meeting. 



M. Geikie expressed the same views and said that English 

 geologists follow the action of this Congress with the greatest 

 interest, and would unite in giving it a warm reception. 



The recommendation of the council was approved. 



The acting president, M. Capellini, yielded the chair to the 

 president, Dr. Beyrich. M. Capellini then took the floor and 

 said : "Before parting, thanks were due to certain august per- 

 sonages and societies and individuals, naming His Majesty, the 

 Emperor of Germany ; the Prussian Government, and especially 

 the Minister of Public Works, and the Cultus Minister who 

 opened the Congress with an able address, the Academy of 

 Mines, his Excellency Dr. von Dechen, Dr. Beyrich, and Dr. 

 Hauchecorne." (Applause). 



Dr. Beyrich observed that in the last words he had to ad- 

 dress to the Congress, he begged to be permitted to speak in 

 the language in which he thought. He thanked the Congress 

 for its kind assistance and support, and introduced his Excel- 

 lency, Dr. von Dechen. 



The honorary president remembered well the first scientific 

 Congress held in Berlin in 1858, under the auspices of the 

 Baron Alexander von Humboldt. Berlin was then a small town 

 but had grown enormously since. He concluded by hoping 

 that all the members would return to their homes with an 

 agreeable souvenir of their sojourn in Berlin. 



Dr. Hauchecorne, the general secretary, spoke of the eminent 

 service of M. Capellini, and concluded with the hope that the 

 friendships made here would endure and be the more closely 

 knit at the future session to be held in London. 



M. de Lapparent mounted the tribune and expressed, on behalf 

 of the members of the Congress, their sense of obligation to the 

 German committee of arrangements. Geological questions, he 



