532 
The British Association . 
[October, 
Geology. (Section C.) 
In opening the proceedings of this section the President 
(Dr. Evans) called attention to thefaCt that the present was 
the third occasion on which the British Association had met 
in this city ; its first meeting was held in Dublin in the 
year 1835. The President of the Geological Section being 
a man of whom Irish science might well be proud, and who, 
he was thankful to say, was still living to enjoy his well- 
deserved honours — the veteran geologist, Sir Richard John 
Griffith, the author of the first Geological Map of Ireland. 
It seemed hardly credible that the construction of this map 
was commenced in the summer of 1812, or sixty-six years 
ago; but the records of the Geological Society of London 
testify to the still more remarkable faCt that Sir Richard 
Griffith was elected a Fellow of that society in 1808 — seventy 
years ago. Indeed, in 1854, when the Wollaston medal was 
awarded to the then Dr. Griffith, the president, the late 
Professor Edward Forbes, spoke, as he said, reverentially 
to one of the earliest members of the society, and to a 
geologist who appeared in print before he, the president, 
was born. It was well said on that occasion that the map 
lately mentioned was one of the most remarkable geological 
maps ever produced by a single geologist. 
(Our readers will have heard with regret of the death of 
Sir Richard Griffith only about a month after the delivery of 
Dr. Evans’s address. He died on the 22nd of September at 
the advanced age of 94.) Dr. Evans also paid a tribute of 
respeCt to the memory of one who was originally a student 
in Trinity College, and who subsequently occupied posts of 
the highest importance in connection with the Geological 
Society of Dublin and the Geological Survey of Ireland, 
besides filling the professorial chair of geology in the Dublin 
University, to Dr. Thomas Oldham, the late director of the 
Geological Survey of India. 
The president then referred to the geology of Ireland, and 
passed on to the consideration of the date which is to be 
assigned to the implement-bearing beds of Palaeolithic age 
in England. Dr. James Geikie has, he said, held that, 
for the most part, they belong to an interglacial episode 
towards the close of the glacial period, and regards it as 
certain that no palaeolithic bed can be shown to belong to a 
more recent date than the mild era that preceded the last 
great submergence. 
His follower, Mr. Skertchley, records the finding of palaeo- 
lithic implements in no less than three interglacial beds, 
