Yol.  49.] 
ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS  OF  THE  PRESIDENT. 
55 
of  14,  and  during  the  four  years  that  he  was  afloat  visited  India, 
Singapore,  China,  South  America,  and  other  countries.  In  1858 
he  was  appointed  a  third-class  assistant  in  the  Mineral  Department 
of  the  British  Museum  under  Prof.  Maskelyne,  and  became  a  junior 
assistant  in  1863.  For  nine  years  he  was  Prof.  Maskelyne’s  only 
assistant,  and  it  was  in  the  arrangement  and  labelling  of  the 
immense  mass  of  specimens  under  that  gentleman's  supervision  that 
he  acquired  an  eye-knowledge  of  minerals  which  has  rarely  been 
surpassed.  Subsequently,  under  the  same  tuition,  he  obtained  a 
knowledge  of  the  microscopic  characters  of  rock-forming  minerals, 
which  rendered  him  a  very  practical  petrologist. 
In  1880  Mr.  Davies  was  promoted  to  the  grade  of  first-class 
assistant,  and  by  a  singular  coincidence  his  father,  Mr.  William 
Davies,  obtained  similar  promotion  in  another  department  of  the 
British  Museum  on  the  very  same  day.  In  that  year  also  Mr.  T. 
Davies  was  awarded  the  Balance  of  the  Proceeds  of  the  Wollaston 
Fund,  the  then  President  specially  commenting  upon  the  generous 
assistance  he  was  so  ready  to  afford  to  others.  He  became  a 
Fellow  of  this  Society  in  1870,  served  on  the  Council  during 
1886-87,  and  contributed  appendices  on  the  microscopical  structure 
of  rocks  to  papers  written  by  Dr.  Hicks. 
His  publications  were  not  numerous,  although  he  contributed 
articles  on  mineralogy  and  petrology  to  more  than  one  Magazine. 
Of  late  years,  however,  he  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  Mineralogical 
Society,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  original  members,  and  for  a  long 
time  was  Foreign  Secretary  and  practically  Editor  of  their  Journal, 
his  very  considerable  knowledge  of  French  and  German  being  of 
material  service  to  him  in  this  connexion.  One  feature  was  particu¬ 
larly  conspicuous  in  Mr.  Davies,  viz.  his  readiness  to  oblige.  Thus  he 
earned  the  good-will  of  his  colleagues,  and  of  those  numerous  friends 
and  acquaintances  who  were  so  ready  to  avail  themselves  of  his 
practical  knowledge  in  the  judging  of  minerals.  About  two  and  a 
half  years  ago  he  was  attacked  by  serious  illness,  and  though  he 
recovered  for  a  time,  his  constitution  was  too  severely  shaken,  and 
he  died  at  East  Acton  on  December  21st,  1892,  within  a  few  days 
of  completing  his  55th  year. 
Henry  John  Marten,  M.Inst.C.E.,  was  born  in  1827.  He  was 
a  well-known  hydraulic  engineer,  and  had  been  adviser  to  the  Board 
of  Agriculture,  the  Severn  Commissioners,  and  the  Staffordshire 
and  Worcestershire  Canal  Company.  He  became  a  Fellow  of  this 
