871 



that design is everywhere ; the grand object of all science (as it was 

 evidently regarded by the greatest man who ever occupied this chair) 

 has been fully answered. 



Sir Roderick Murchison, 



I have the greatest pleasure in placing in your hands the Copley 

 Medal. Such labours as yours, which have contributed so much to 

 the progress of geology, are certainly fully entitled to the highest 

 honour which this Society can confer. Your three great works, 

 ' On the Silurian System,' ' On the Geology of Russia,' and ' On the 

 Structure of the Alps,' are so well known that I merely name them; 

 and I will only add that I feel confident the Council in this award 

 carry with them the approbation not merely of those who make 

 geology their especial study, but also of the great body of the Fellows 

 of this Society, to whom that popular and captivating science is 

 without doubt an object of deep and increasing interest. 



/ Dr. Blakiston, 



In the absence of Colonel Sabine, who I deeply regret to find is 

 prevented by severe indisposition from being present, permit me to 

 request you to receive the Royal Medal for him. The Medal has been 

 adjudged to Colonel Sabine for his valuable paper ' On Terrestrial 

 Magnetism ' in our Transactions. Colonel Sabine has had the pe- 

 culiar merit of bringing the energies of many to bear upon this im- 

 portant subject, under circumstances the most favourable. 



He, thoroughly acquainted with the instruments best adapted for 

 magnetic expeditions, and with their use, took care so to instruct 

 the officers as to enable them to make observations of a character 

 the most trustworthy. 



On shore, or on the ice, nothing more is required than care and 

 practical dexterity ; at sea there are great difficulties, and of a new 

 class. The observations are affected by the polar magnetism, the 

 momentary induced magnetism of the iron of the ship, and the changes 

 of the polar magnetism. All this was first brought to light by 

 Colonel Sabine : means were devised by him for obtaining the ne- 

 cessary corrections, and thus observations at sea were made com- 

 parable in point of accuracy with observations made on shore. In 

 the theoretical part of this work Colonel Sabine had the valuable 

 assistance of Mr. Archibald Smith. 



In Colonel Sabine's last paper, he collects all the results relating 

 to magnetic declination, and embodying them in a map compares 

 them with theory, and so makes them at once available for the use of 

 the practical seaman, and the advancement of theoretical mag- 

 netism. 



I am most happy that l^ie Royal Medal has been conferred on 

 Colonel Sabine, not only on account of the great intrinsic value of 

 his labours, but as marking the Royal Society's desire to encourage 

 the reduction and discussion of the mass of magnetic observations 

 which have been collected by government officers. 



