Vol. 56.] ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. lxvii 



behind the ingenuity of the many workers on the Drift, some of 

 whom seem to believe in the infinite divisibility thereof. 



While on this subject, I would pay a tribute of respect to a 

 pioneer in Drift-mapping, the late S. V. Wood, Jun., whose maps, 

 with their continuation, by his pupil Mr. Harmer, are now in the 

 Society's possession, through the kindness of the latter. 



The publication of geological maps on the large scale of 6 inches 

 to the mile was undreamt of when I joined the Survey ; but it 

 was not very long before some of the northern coalfields were 

 partly illustrated on that scale. Let us hope that some modern 

 process may soon be adopted for cheaply issuing like maps for other 

 tracts. The work being now done on the large scale, it seems a 

 pity that it should all be practically locked up in MS. copies. 



The first Memoir illustrating a sheet of the Map was published in 

 the very year that I joined the Survey. Now there are 87 of these 

 Memoirs illustrating sheets of the English Map, 9 for Scotland, 

 and 118 for Ireland. In this the ' distressful country ' is well 

 ahead, every sheet being accompanied by its Memoir. 



A few of the English Memoirs are really full-sized volumes, and 

 others nearly so. Besides these, other Memoirs, with various objects 

 and of various sizes, have appeared ; and lately it has been the 

 custom to give a pretty full account of the year's work in the 

 ' Summary of Progress,' instead of the meagre statistics of earlier 

 1 Annual Reports.' 



I see therefore every reason to anticipate a long career of increased 

 usefulness for that Survey to which I had the honour to belong for 

 39| years, and my association with which was so advantageous to 

 myself, though I joined it on so ominous a day as the first of April. 



Besides the great increase in detailed work on our various 

 stratified formations, we must also remember the great extension 

 downward in age-classification. It is not so many years ago that 

 we knew of nothing older than Cambrian ; now we know ofjarge 

 masses of pre-Cambrian rocks, which have a literature almost 

 appalling in its extent, combined with a nomenclature of a some- 

 what confusing kind. Of this literature there is not any sign of 

 great decrease in output, and probably very much work remains to 

 be done on these old rocks. 



The mention of this subject recalls the grievous loss which the 

 Society has lately suffered in the death of our friend, Dr. Hicks, who 

 was so zealous an investigator of the earlier rocks. 



