Vol. 59.] ANNIVERSARF ADDRESS OP THE PRESIDENT. XCvii 



Geology, but certainly to none has ever been afforded so magnificent 

 an opportunity. The veil of ignorance and of traditional opinion which 

 hid from the men of the Middle Ages the wonders which Geology has 

 since revealed, was so dark and opaque that, until the close of the 

 eighteenth century, no light could penetrate beyond. But so old and 

 flimsy was it, that when once the strong hand of the geologist had 

 torn it, it was soon rent through from top to bottom, and in the 

 flood of light which entered, what wonder that discovery followed 

 discovery in almost endless succession. 



And we have deep cause for thankfulness in that these dis- 

 coveries have been of benefit, not for our science alone, but for all 

 its fellow-sciences ; and more, that they have been from the first 

 of supreme importance to man himself, his industries and his 

 progress ; and to the study of his history, his origin, and indeed of 

 all that binds him and his fellow-creatures to the world on which 

 he lives. 



While, therefore, we move on confidently together in this dawn 

 of a new era, blazing forward the straight and narrow trail of research 

 marked out up to this point by our geological forefathers, — the 

 ' old trail, the lone trail, the trail that's always new ' — let us ever 

 remember that our science is not only the interpreter of Nature, but 

 also the servant of Humanity. 



