president’s annual address. 
85 
Even a cursory reader could not fail being struck, even a very few 
years since, with the very great blanks which prevailed in the geo¬ 
logy of countries that ought to have been by this time tolerably 
well known. One great blank has been, in a great measure, removed 
by the wonderful map of India by Mr. Greenough—the Nestor of 
Geology; he will transmit his name to future ages by two maps, 
which contained at the time of their publication an enormous amount 
of information for any single private individual to have compared and 
digested. The Geological Survey, under the auspices of the East 
India Company, will of course supply exact information on those 
points, not only of the greatest value in a scientific point of view, 
but of great use to every industrial undertaking, whether it be 
mining or agricultural; whether it be to make roads, or to convey 
water from a damp to a thirsty soil. The rapid extension of those 
geological surveys is probably the most characteristic feature of the 
day. Not only France and Germany have nearly completed this 
work, but our Transatlantic brethren have made great efforts, and 
are still doing so, to promote the many capabilities of their enormous 
territory. Isbister’s Essay on the Geology of North America, pub¬ 
lished in the English Geological Journal, contains a vast amount of 
information on those inhospitable latitudes, which have been tra¬ 
versed by so many expeditions, and in which, alas, many a hero has 
fallen a martyr to his duty and his love of science! It is very 
gratifying to find Mr. Sharpe investigating, with his usual accuracy, 
the interesting provinces of Portugal; and some precise information 
about Spain is very much required. It is true that Capt. Widdring- 
ton several years ago, in his interesting Tour, described many of its 
more peculiar features. Mr. Pratt and the gentlemen connected with 
the Asturian mines have also given us some occasional glimpses into 
the interior of the crust of that rich land. Dr. Daubeny also gave 
an interesting description of his search after the Apatite mines of 
Estremadura. There has also been a great accession to our know¬ 
ledge of the geology of South Africa. Captains Gordon and Suther¬ 
land have identified and described the cretaceous strata of Port Natal, 
However, probably the most original and curious fragment of extra- 
European geology is Mr. Loftus’s account of the mountain ranges 
extending on each side of the boundary between Turkey and Persia. 
He has made a noble use of his opportunities when connected with 
the Mixed Boundary Commission; and it is very much to be wished 
