ppmonnl and Scv^ntipc iV<3'/;.«. 137 
Dalj^ minister of the interior, and many other distinouislied Can- 
adians. 
After the viands liad Ijeen disposed of the toasts (jf llm (iricen, 
ihe president of thr Uirifcd Stafe-s, and the (/orenior-gcncral were 
enthusiastically drunk. In responding to the latter, lord Stanley 
made a very felicitous speech, in which he expressed the great 
pleasure that it gave him to extend Canadas welcome to the sci- 
entific men from the adjoining republic, assuring them that the 
oftener they came, the more they would be appreciated, and the 
better it would be for l)0th countries. He humorously referred to 
his abundant oi)p()rtunities for the study of geology and paheon- 
tology on tlie I'oad from the (Jovernnient hous(> to the Pni'iiament 
buildings. 
In answer to the toast of oar yucsts, professor Emerson of Am- 
hurst college, made an admirably witty speech. He was followed 
by professor (j. F. Wright and Mr. W. J. McGee, the latter of 
whom proposed the toast of the Parllcimciit of Cioiada. This 
was responded to by Sir John Thompson Avho said that on this, 
his first opportunity since l)ecoming premier, of giving an outline 
of the policy of th(^ government he could assure them that, on 
one point, at least, the parliament would l)e unanimous, and that 
was in offering a most cordial welcome to the scientists of Amer- 
ica. The differences of opinion in commercial and political mat- 
ters had no counterpart in science. 
The Geological Society of America was proposed l)y Sir James 
Grant, and answered by president Gilbert; the Gejdogical Survey 
of Cetnada was proposed by professor Fairchild and answered by 
Mr. Daly, minister of the interior, and the Press was answered l)y 
Mr. Shannon, editor of the Ottava Citixen. The company then 
sang the IJritish national anthem, and a very pleasant and pi-otit- 
able evening was brought to a close. 
On Friday morning Mr. G. K. Gilbert gave the annual presi- 
dential address on the subject "Problems of the Continents.' 
After alludiiif^to the interest manifested at the present time in con- 
tinental and inter-continentul sid)jects, and to the geological work of 
the coming Congress of (Teologists on the occasion of the Worhl's 
Fair at Chicago, .Mr. Uilljert reviewed the broader of the problems in 
geophysics and g(H)l(»gical liistory as they alfect the continents. iJec- 
ognizing the continental plateau, as distinct from the dry land conti- 
nents, it is a question how it is sustained, the rival theories being 
those of terrestrial rigidity and isostasy. The doctrine of isostasy is 
gaining adherents, hut is not universally accepted. If accepted, it 
leaves the (piestion wliether the liglitness of contineidal rock material 
is due to relatively higli temperature or to composition. I*'or the ori- 
gin of the continents tlie only well-digested theory in the Held is thai 
of I»ana, and that has not yet been i'ldly coni])ared with the body of 
new facts contributed by the last decade. The |iernianenc(! of conti- 
nents, though widely accepted, is not yet fully established ; and the 
doctrine that cijntinents have steadily grown from Archean to Pleis- 
tocene, though universally taught, is not yet placed beyond question. 
Thus tlie continents offer to the congress of next summer a number 
of fundamental problems worthy of the most careful consideration. 
