GEOLOGY IN CHINA 
107 
In order to bring together an up-to-date geological library, 
the Director of the Survey, Dr. V. K. Ting, approached private 
gentlemen, as well as mining companies, requesting them to con¬ 
tribute to a Library fund. Through their generous response, 
forty thousand dollars were collected, and with this fund Dr. 
Ting has been able to erect a modern library building and bring 
together a collection of geological literature comprising at pre¬ 
sent 8873 volumes. President Li Yuan Hung has taken a leading 
role among the individual donators, while among the mining com¬ 
panies the Kailan Mining Administration stands foremost through 
the generosity of its donation. 
It has been considered by the Minister of Agriculture and Com¬ 
merce, and by the Director of the Geological Survey, that this 
institution has now reached such a stage of development, that it 
is appropriate to throw the museum and the library open to the 
public. The opening ceremony took place on the 17th of July, 
at four in the afternoon, in the lecture hall of the Survey, and 
in the presence of a distinguished gathering of Chinese officials, 
headed by President Li Yuan Hung, who himself a leading 
donator to the Library fund, gave, by his presence, renewed 
evidence of his scientific interest and democratic spirit. Among 
other notable guests, may be specially mentioned, the Minister and 
Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, Their Excellencies, 
Chang Kuo Kan and Chiang Tien To, the chiefs of the different 
departments of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce; and 
delegates from other government museums in Peking, as well as 
many of the donators and other representatives of the mining in¬ 
dustry. 
The guests were welcomed by the Director of the Survey, Dr. 
Ting, in the following words: 
“H. E. the President, Their Excellencies, the Minister and the 
Vice-Minister, our honoured guests, and my colleagues; It is my great 
privilege and pleasure to welcome you most heartily on behalf of the 
Geological Survey. First of all, I must thank the President, not 
only because he condescends to come to this ceremony, but also be¬ 
cause he is one of the contributors to our building fund. In foreign 
countries it is not uncommon for the official head of the state to be 
present at the opening of a similar scientific institution, but so far as 
I know, this is the first time in China, that the President of the Re¬ 
public 'honours such an occasion by his presence. This indicates the 
