PEOCEEDING& OF THE SOCIETY. 127 



directly upon the practical work of the Society, for they would of course 

 see where the application of the Microscope came in. The study of the 

 Coal-Measure plants attested the value of microscopical research, since 

 their knowledge of these plant structures was based upon their president's 

 examination of a long series of beautifully prepared sections, the study 

 of which led to an accurate knowledge of these primitive plants. It was 

 very interesting to notice that the fossil insects found in the Coal-Measures 

 confirmed what Dr. Scott had told them, for when the only plants which 

 existed produced neither pollen nor honey, they found only such insects 

 as predaceous Dragon- Flies (Neuroptera), the Orthoptera, which include 

 the Cockroaches, Locusts and Grasshoppers, and the Hemiptera which 

 lived upon the juices of plants, Fulgoridai (Lantern-Flies) the Cicadidai, 

 etc., but when flower-bearing plants appeared they found evidences of 

 the honey-eating insects such as Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera. They 

 might now look forward to the treatment of similar subjects by their 

 newly elected President (Lord Avebury), who was full of information 

 upon insect-life and the connection of insects and flowers. He had 

 great pleasure in moving this resolution. 



Mr. Ct. C. Karop had much pleasm'e in seconding the motion, which 

 was carried by acclamation. 



Dr. Scott, in thanking Dr. Woodward for his very kind remarks, 

 said he should like to ask him what was the earliest period at which the 

 Lepidoptera had been found to appear. 



Dr. Woodward said a Lepidopterous insect had been found in the 

 Great Oolite or Stonesfield Slate, i.e. in the age of the Cycade^ — this 

 had been doubted hj Scudder, but Dr. A. G. Butler still stoutly defends it. 



Dr. Scott said it had been a great pleasure to him to have given this 

 series of addresses, and he should of course be pleased, as the Society 

 wished it, to give permission to have the one printed which had been 

 delivered that evening. He felt much indebted to the Society for the 

 kind way in which they had received his address ; he could only speak 

 to them as a Botanist, and to an audience not wholly botanical the 

 matters discussed must necessarily sometimes appear rather special. He 

 was exceedingly pleased to think that his successor was to be Lord 

 Avebury ; he was very happy to be able to make this announcement, 

 for if they were to increase in numbers he could not conceive of a more 

 auspicious circumstance than the presidency of Lord Avebury, nothing 

 could do the Society more good than the influence of a man of science 

 at once so eminent and so popular. 



Mr. Maurice Blood proposed that the thanks of the Society be given 

 to their Honorary Officers. How much they owed to them was only 

 known to those who worked with them in what was entirely a labour of 

 love. 



Mr. Plaskitt having seconded the motion. 



Dr. Scott said he had never known the work of any society to be 

 carried on so smoothly as in this one, or in which the President's office 

 w^as rendered so easy for him, owing to the excellent way in which the 

 affairs of the Society were managed by its officers. He had remarked 

 this on former occasions and could now say it again after a longer 

 experience. In the interval since their last Annual Meeting, they had 



