XXII 
PROCEEDINGS, 
used, to ask for grants and hence to back the requests of the 
Sections. This should have the effect of helping on those researches 
which have a local bearing. The Association itself profits in 
receiving delegates from all over the country, being thus aided in 
maintaining the cosmopolitanism which is one of its leading 
characteristics. He would like to see each year at least one 
delegate bring up some topic which had been treated with 
conspicuous success by his own Society—not merely a few casual 
words dropped into a discussion, but a considered paper dealing 
with the technique of an investigation, its difficulties, and some of 
the conclusions to which it was leading. 
After mentioning with commendation the ‘Record of Rare 
Tacts’ of the Caradoc and Severn Valley Field Club, Prof. Watts 
referred to the difficulty of finding the reports of the meetings of 
provincial Societies in local newspapers, and said that all important 
papers thus reported should he reprinted and distributed freely to 
our libraries and scientific institutions. Printing a few extra 
copies was not expensive when the type was once set. A common 
vehicle for the publication of the more important papers of the 
Societies of a county or some other well-defined area ought to be 
made a success; it would be an untold economy and convenience to 
the local Societies themselves, and to those who wish to buy and 
use their publications. The ‘Irish Naturalist’ was an effort in this 
direction which had been a conspicuous success for many years. 
After alluding to museums, and specially referring to the 
importance of local Societies retaining a considerable amount of 
control over the museums which they give up to other authorities 
such as County and Town Councils, and also mentioning various 
Committees of the Association carrying on local investigation, 
Professor Watts concluded his Address with a few words on his 
own special subject, Geology. In the maps of the first geological 
survey of the country, now nearing completion, there was, he said, 
a wealth of raw material for the local investigator. The work of 
the geological surveyor was only just begun when he had got the 
lines upon his map; the further division of the strata, the zonal 
collection of the fossils, the relations and origin of the igneous 
rocks, and the fascinating problems relating to the origin of the 
landscape-features, all became for the first time possible with the 
completion of the l-inch map. After the survey, new wells, 
borings, cuttings, quarries, and other sections were opened up, and 
the local Society could do excellent work, either in the person 
of the local geologist or by giving information to the office of the 
Survey. 
The difference between superficial and solid geology was pointed 
out, one dealing with surface-accumulations of drift, gravel, and 
subsoil, and the other with the rocks built upon the earth’s crust, 
and a third geology, which might be termed abysmal, was alluded 
to as now becoming prominent, especially for economic reasons, and 
local Societies were urged to get and keep all records of borings. 
Finally, the relation of geology and landscape was mentioned as 
