64 
CONGEES GEOLOGIQUK INTERNATIONAL. 
Mail, 1890. 
the earliest ages to the present time. Hence the need for 
comparing notes from time to time with the investigators of 
other lands; for friendly intercourse with foreign geologists ; 
and, if need be, for that active conflict, battle, and strife of 
idea and thought which ever leads onwards in the path of 
truth. 
Then, again, it appears to me to be a good thing for the 
advocates of opposing systems and rival theories to meet 
together face to face and discuss freely and frankly their 
differences. Most controversies have their rise either in the 
indefiniteness of terms or in misunderstanding the real mean¬ 
ing of speakers and writers. And though it be difficult to 
fully thrash out the matter when speaking in public under the 
trammels of a foreign tongue, yet personal interviews, with 
the aid of judicious interpreters, will enable a clear discussion 
of the points at issue. 
Had Werner and Hutton and their followers, a century 
ago, instead of firing useless and sometimes red-hot shots at 
one another from a distance of some hundreds of miles, been 
able to meet together in Edinburgh or Freyberg, or even in 
Paris, Bologna, Berlin, London, or Philadelphia, they might 
have got nearer to one another in theory ; but anyway much 
of the violence and acrimony of controversy would have been 
saved. The amenities of friendly intercourse would have 
poured oil upon the troubled waters of strife. 
Further, the stimulus given to the workers in different 
countries by such a Congress is a thing not to be lightly 
esteemed. And the encouragement which those of different 
lands may gain from feeling that they are working together 
for a common object, and for a great purpose, is surely a 
source of fuller power. 
Finally, the literature called out by such a gathering is 
eminently useful, not only to those who are able to attend, 
but to all workers in the subjects. The public discussions 
may, to some, fail of their force ; but, as I said at the outset, 
the written record remains, and many who were present in 
London will doubtless con again and again the written records 
of that most successful Congress. 
I have thus endeavoured to give you a resume of what was 
to me one of the most instructive and most pleasant series of 
meetings I have ever attended. For many of us—for most of 
us—it is not possible to go long distances, or to spend much 
money ; but we all may share more or less in the gathered 
results of the labours of others. And I believe that the future 
of the Congres Geologique International will be a potent factor 
in the progress and development of geological science. 
