1879.] 
President's Address. 
49 
very peculiar structure, and have been alternately classed as corals, Forcmi- 
nifera, and sponges, and even by one writer as Cystideans, a view which 
must have been derived from the examination of an imperfect drawing. It 
appears, according to Professor Martin Duncan’s determination,* that these 
singular “ Karakoram stones” are examples of an entirely new class of 
Protozoa, distinct from sponges and Foraminifera, but most nearly allied 
to the latter, and chiefly distinguished by the absence of cells and by the 
much greater development of the tubular structure. For this new class of 
animals the name of iSyrinyospliceridce is proposed. 
Finally I am glad to be able to announce the completion of the Manual 
of Indian Geology, on which Mr. Medlicott and I have been engaged for more 
than two years, and which will, I hope, render the study of Indian Geology 
in the future somewhat less laborious than it has hitherto been, and enable 
all who are interested to gain some knowledge, at all events, of the science, 
without going beyond the limits of a single work. I have the pleasure of 
laying before you this evening the bound copy of this work, complete, with 
the exception of the index, which is now being printed. It is a deplorable 
circumstance that the late Dr. Oldham, under whose superintendence the 
greater part of the survey has been carried out, and to whom so much of 
the labour is due that has rendered it possible to prepare anything like a 
connected account of Indian Geology, should not have lived to see the com¬ 
pletion of the Manual. 
In Biology, although, owing to the sad gaps left in our numbers by 
the losses of the last few years, and by the absence of some of the most 
energetic members of the Society in Europe, the contributions to the Jour¬ 
nal cf the Society have diminished, there is no decrease in the work done, 
and the smaller number of the papers published in our Journal is partly 
accounted for by the publication of such works as “ Stray Feathers.” At 
the same time, as the continuance of these works shews the growing inter¬ 
est in different branches of science in India, our Society cannot but benefit 
indirectly from the rivalry. 
The most important botanical work at present in progress is of course 
the ‘ Flora Indica’ published by Sir Joseph Hooker, with the assistance of 
several excellent botanists. Of this Flora one part was {mblished during the 
year, bringing the work down to the natural order Myrtacece, and, as I learn 
from Dr. King, another is nearly ready, completing the second volume. A 
large amount of material for Vol. Ill, is ready or nearly so. To the staff 
engaged in the preparation of this hand-book, Mr. C. B. Clarke, one of the 
best Indian botanists, has been added, and it may confidently be hoped that 
* Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Octr. 1878, Ser. 4, Vol. II, p. 297. 
