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miles ; and as the earthquake focus is, in fact, also the volcanic one, that 

 volcanic action within our planet is at present limited to about that 

 depth. Mr. Mallet has shown that Seismology is capable of being used 

 as an instrument of cosmical discovery ; and he has also shown that its 

 importance is far greater in this respect than in any of the relations of 

 earthquakes to superficial geological changes produced or induced by 

 shock. 



Me. Mallet, — I have much pleasure in presenting to you the 

 medal awarded to you by the Council of the Eoyal Irish Academy for 

 your researches on the Theory of Earthquakes. To you, I believe, is due 

 the credit of having been the first to disentangle and explain the com- 

 plicated phenomena of these terrible visitations. You have measured 

 the velocity of the waves of vibration propagated through the various 

 solid materials of the earth-crust ; you have marked the sound-wave of 

 air, carrying with it the announcement of the catastrophe ; you have 

 followed the course of those tremendous breakers which have rolled in 

 upon the trembling shores even at vast distances from the points where 

 the ocean-bed has been agitated by subterraneous commotion. Profit- 

 ing by the indications furnished by riven walls and overthrown pillars, 

 you have succeeded in pointing out the locus of the centres of earth- 

 quake disturbance. These researches of yours place within our reach a 

 new organon of cosmical inquiry — a method supplying information re- 

 specting the temperature and structure of the earth-crust at distances 

 unapproachable by any other known mode of observation. We can 

 hardly desire for you enlarged opportunities of applying your theory, 

 and testing the self-registering instruments which you have devised ; 

 but we earnestly hope that the development of these and other investi- 

 gations in which you are engaged may still further redound to your own 

 credit and that of this Academy. 



A Cunningham Medal has been awarded to Mr. Whitley Stokes, 

 for his work on Irish Glosses, edited for the Irish Archaeological So- 

 ciety. The work for which this medal is conferred on Mr. Stokes is an 

 edition of a Mediaeval tract on Latin declension, with examples explained 

 in Irish. The value of the tract itself lies in the large number of Irish 

 words (about^ 1100) which are annexed as glosses to the Latin voca- 

 bles, exemplifying the different declensions ; many of these words are 

 unregistered in our dictionaries ; of others the meaning has hitherto been 

 guessed at rather than known. The publication of the tract, even without 

 any commentary upon it, would have been a useful contribution towards 

 the production of that Irish dictionary, the want of which is so much 

 complained of. Mr. Stokes, however, has added copious annotations on 

 the Irish words, pointing out the relationship in which they stand to 

 cognate words in other Indo-European languages. In executing this 

 part of his task, he has instituted comparisons which throw much light 

 upon the etymology of words and names in other languages, as well as 

 the Irish. I might cite many examples to show how interesting these 



