Feb., 1890. CONGRES GEOLOGIQUE INTERNATIONAL. 
35 
years ago I had miserably, though successfully, endured 
examination, converted into a geological museum and a 
refreshment room. To occupy almost the identical seat in 
the theatre of the University which I filled when presented to 
the Chancellor in 1870 on the occasion of the opening of the 
University buildings by Her Majesty the Queen roused 
happier memories. And to be sitting side by side in friendly 
converse with the grim examiners of those early days increased 
for me personally the oddness of the situation. However the 
rooms were well adapted to their new purpose ; and thanks 
were due, and were heartily rendered, to the Senate of the 
University for permitting their use. 
Those who are familiar with the procedure of the British 
Association, the Social Science Congress, and similar gather¬ 
ings will not need to be informed that the first step of a 
member on arrival is to give in his name and address, get 
his ticket of membership, and obtain whatever literature there 
may be for distribution. On the present occasion this litera¬ 
ture was voluminous. There was not only the inevitable list 
of members and programmes of meetings, excursions, and 
other matters, but also the catalogue of the exhibition, the 
printed reports of the various committees that have been at 
work since the last meeting at Berlin in 1885, a series of 
papers from various authors on the crystalline schists, a 
carefully drawn up and elaborate account of the excursions to 
be undertaken in the following week, and sundry other papers 
and pamphlets of interest. Also on this occasion each 
member was presented with a small bronze medal, slightly 
less in diameter than our halfpenny, having on one face two 
hammers with their handles crossed and the legend “ Mente 
et malleo ,” and on the other the inscription “ IV. Geologorum 
Conventus Londin., 1888.” It struck me this was rather a 
good idea in a gathering of such various nations, as enabling 
us readily to recognise a friend or comrade amidst the con¬ 
fused tumult of the London streets. As I wore mine rather 
conspicuously on my watch chain, I found myself occasionally 
accosted by someone similarly adorned, and was thus enabled 
to render to some of our foreign guests the courtesies of 
civilized life, and to give them in some cases information they 
were seeking. I noticed, however, that many members did 
not wear their medals, but kept them, I suppose, to show to 
their grandchildren when they got home. 
Now I come to the meetings themselves. The Congress 
assembled on Monday, the 17th of September, and the meet¬ 
ings lasted through the ensuing week. In the following week 
a series of excursions all over England and Wales was 
