PROCEEDINGS 



ROYAL PHYSICAL SOCIETY. 



NINETY-FIFTH SESSION, 1865-66. 



Wednesday, 22d November 1865. — David Page, Esq., President, 

 in the Chair. 



The following Donations to the Library were laid on the Table, and 

 thanks voted to the Donors : — 



1. Palaeontology of Niti, Northern Himalaya, by J. W. Salter, 

 F.G.S., and H. F. Blandford, F.G.S. 2. Journal of the Proceedings 

 of the Linnean Society, Parts 29 to 34. — From the Society. 3. Pro- 

 ceedings of the Royal Society, Nos. 74, 75, and 76. — From the Society. 



The President, Mr David Page, then delivered the following 

 Address : — 



In opening the business of another Session, I offer a 

 few remarks on 



" man's place in the geological record," 



from the conviction that the subject is at present unfairly 

 dealt with, and treated with unnecessary reserve. As is 

 often the case with topics of novelty, certain observers are 

 evidently carrying the question beyond its legitimate 

 domain; while others (perhaps the more competent), alarmed 

 by this indiscretion, are timorously abstaining from the dis- 

 cussion, and as evidently withholding their matured con- 

 victions. Under such circumstances, no progress can be 

 made : truth can never be arrived at. As a question of 

 Natural Science, the subject is surely as open to investiga- 

 tion as any other that comes within the scope of human 

 research, and may be discussed as fully and freely, if we 

 vol. in. 2 s 



