We have now on exhibition in the Centennial buildings 15,000 pounds of Iowa soil, selected from forty-five different counties of our state. This exhibition shows a vertical section of the natural formation of the earth to the depth of six feet from the surface. The selection has been made from _five_ several _groups_ of _seven_ counties each. The counties have been classified according to their contiguity, or natural location, as the northwest, northeast, southwest, southeast, and central. These specimens of strata are exhibited just in the condition they existed in the earth. The strata, undisturbed, have been transferred to glass tubes six inches in diameter and six feet in length. These tubes are encased in black walnut, and each labeled with the name of the county from which the strata have been taken. The object has been in good faith to show the world what Iowa really is, without exaggeration, and without room for cavil. Here is the formation from nature's own laboratory. Behold, what hath God wrought! The address also particularly gives an account of our school system, our state university and agricultural college, our benevolent institutions for the unfortunate classes, also the extent of our newspaper publications. It discusses to some extent the questions arising out of the Civil War and the heroism of our troops. On this subject the address contains the following: It is impossible, in the reasonable length to which this paper should be limited, to write even a summary of the battles in which Iowa soldiers took part. The history of her troops would be substantially a history of the war in the south and west. To recount a portion of those battles and sieges would be to give a partial history to the neglect of others, equally deserving of honorable mention. A task alike impossible would be to give here the names of the heroes, living and dead, who distinguished themselves by their courage and valor. Our efficient Adjutant General has preserved in the archives of his department, the material from which this glorious history will one day be written, for the honor of the state and the inspiration of the generations that shall come after us. In the adjutant's department at Des Moines are preserved the shot-riddled colors and standards of our regiments. Upon them, by special authority, were inscribed, from time to time during the war, the names of the battle fields upon which these regiments gained distinction. These names constitute the geographical nomenclature of two-thirds of the territory lately in rebellion. From the Des Moines river to the Gulf, from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, in the mountains of West Virginia, and in the Valley of the Shenandoah, the Iowa soldier made his presence known and felt, and maintained the honor of the state and the cause of the nation.