180 
Reports and Proceedings — 
That any contributions of mine towards thi* object bare met with tbe approhation 
of the Society, is in itself a great reward ; coupled, however, with tbe bonour you 
have to-day paid rae, it becomes a souree of mucb higber gratification. 
The President next banded the Murchison Medal to Mr. Warington W. Smytb, for 
transmission to tbe Rev. William Branwbite Clarke, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., and 
spoke as follows : — 
Mr. Warington Smyth, — Tbe Couneil of tbe Society bas awarded tbe Murchison 
Medal and a portion of tbe Murebison Fund to tbe Rev. William Braawhite Clarke, 
F.R.S., of Sydney, Australia, in recognition of bis remarkable Services in tbe 
investigation of tbe older rocks of New South Wales, Services whieh have led to a 
correct knowledge of tbe succession of the formatious in tbat great country, and which 
have been of great value to the Community. 
Mr. Clarke’s labours date back nearly half a Century, and he had contributed 
several interesting essays on points of British Geology before he commenced bis 
arduous work amongst the Coal-bearing strata of bis adopted country. Influeneed by 
the love of scientific investigation, and aided by a self-reliant and independent 
character, he surveyed those great deptbs of roek which brought tbe local naraes of 
Hawksbury, Wianamatta, and Newcastle before tbe geological world as land-marks 
in an apparently anomalous series of strata. Hissurvey, tbe result of years of patient 
labour, was so exact, that, in spite of former unsparing criticism, it is now universally 
recognized as correct; and his deductions as to tbe relative value of marine and 
plant-bearing strata in estimating tbe ages of formations, tbough disbelieved in former 
years. have been proved to be consistent witb facts since observed in Africa, India, 
and North America. 
Mr. Clarke discovered that there were strata of marine limestones containing Carboni- 
ferous Spiriferi and Producti , and witb which were intercalated beds of coal which 
preseuted ,a mixture of forms of plants. He noticed that there was no break in this 
great series of deposits, and tbat Sigillarite, Calamites and Coniferie, were associated 
with Glossopteris and other genera of Filices, which, had they been found in the 
typical area of England, would have denoted a Mesozoic horizon. Subsequent research 
by other observers in Queensland has produced corresponding results; and Science 
therefore owes much to Mr. Clarke for the consistent and persistent manner in which 
he has upheld his opinions regarding tbe age of these Australian Carboniferous series. 
Labouring amongst the strata below the Carboniferous, Mr. Clarke discovered the 
presence of Silurian rocks by the existence in them of characteristic Trilobites and 
Corals, and noticed the unconformability of the Carboniferous to the underlying 
group ; and even in those early days of his work he grasped the important idea tbat 
tbe geology of the typical area of Europe was not exactly comparable witb that of 
Australia. 
From his knowledge of the country and of the physical development of the 
Australian Cordillera, Mr. Clarke was able to enlarge upon the relations of the 
sedimentary and intrusive rocks, ahd this led to his discovery of tbe auriferous 
quartzites and detrital accumulations of the mountains witbin sixty or eighty miles of 
Sydney. Subsequently the possibility of tbe great north and south ränge of New 
South Wales bring liighly auriferous, was impressed upon bim by his comparing these 
mountains with the details of tbe Oural, the result of the labours of the great gcologist, 
donor of this Medal, and Keyserling and De Verneuil. 
Mr. Clarke’s last work on the Sedimentary Formation of New South Wales 
appeared in 1875, and in it tbe Veteran geologist had the satisfaction of repeating 
those acknowledged truths which he had elaborated thirty years since. 
In asking you to forward this Medal to the Rev. William B. Clarke, I know that I 
am requiring a pleasant task at your hands, especially when I desire you to express to 
him the appreciation in which his labours are held by this Society. 
Mr. Warington W. Smyth replied; — Mr. President, — It is with much satisfaction 
that 1 receive this Medal, to be forwarded to the Rev. Mr. Clarke, one amotig the 
oldest Fellows of the Society, who joined its ranks upwards of fifty years ago, and has 
since that time to the present continued his labours in the field of" Science. Although 
not personally acquainted with Mr. Clarke, I have had the opportunity, from his 
being a constant and valued correspondent of our late friend Sir Roderick Murchison, 
to hear much of the laborious researches carried on by our Medallistin New South 
Wales. I feel assured that the award of this honour will be duly appreciated in the 
colony, the Geology of which bas been so much advauced by Mr. Clarke, and trust 
