Vol. 59.] ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. lxXXV 



been the prolific parent of similar national Geological Surveys in 

 almost all countries of the civilized world. He founded the Museum 

 of Practical Geology as a national home for the collections made by 

 geological research and for the illustrations of Geology in all its 

 practical applications, consecrating the building, even in its title, to 

 that idea of the combination of knowledge and utility which justified 

 the nation in its foundation and its maintenance. And more, he 

 made that Museum, through his genius and his knowledge of men, a 

 living and growing centre of instruction in geological science and its 

 useful applications, selecting as the teachers of that special education 

 some of the highest intellects of his day. 



What other scientific leader of the 19th century can show so 

 famous a roll of lieutenants ? It is almost invidious to select names 

 from the list. But so long as Natural Science, pure or applied, shall 

 command the respect of men, the names of Thomas Huxley, Lyon 

 Playfair, Edward Erankland, John Percy, Edward Eorbes, and 

 Andrew Ramsay, will be held in honoured memory as those of men 

 whose lifework in science, or in practice, or in education, or in 

 all three combined, place them in the front rank of the benefactors of 

 their day and their generation. 



We might go on to point out how the success of De la Beche's- 

 scheme caused it to outgrow rapidly the limits of its original home, 

 for we are most of us familiar with the fact that while the 

 Geological Survey and the National geological collections are still 

 retained in the original Museum, the educational sections became 

 developed into the Eoyal School of Mines and eventually into the 

 Eoyal College of Science, which in its turn practically became the 

 centre of that widespread scheme of national instruction, known as 

 the Science & Art Department. But what especially concerns us here, 

 is that these results demonstrate, on the one hand, the naturalness 

 and fertility of De la Beche's conception of the necessary association 

 of science, practice, and education, and on the other the far-reaching 

 influence that Geology and geologists have had on the extension 

 and invigoration of scientific practice and education in Britain. 



Geology and Economics. — It is almost an impertinence to 

 point out to an assemblage of geologists like this the relation- 

 ships of Geology and its applications to the material welfare 

 of our fellow-countrymen ; but those of us who are absorbed in 

 the charms, of research are now and again tempted to look 

 askance at those who are engaged in advancing Geology and the 



