Ll^'^"EAX SOCIETY or londox. 39 



by the Physical Society ot Edinburgh, to uhich he belonged 

 all his life, lie published an important paper on Lepidodendron 

 and Calamltes in the Transactions ol: the Jiotauical Society of 

 Edinburgh, and tlie present writer well remembers the presentation 

 of a still more important paper in the oUl quarters of the Linnean 

 Society at Burlington House, on the IStli of June, LSGb, " On 

 fossil Cycadean Stems from the Secondary llocks of Britain," 

 witii its establishment of the genus Benneitites in the memoir 

 in our Transactions, with 10 plates, in 1870. 



As administrator in the British Museum his work was im- 

 ])ortant, and absorbed his energies previously devoted to research. 

 in 1871 he was a[)pointed Keeper, at a period when the Koyal 

 Commission, presided over by the seventh Didce of Devonshire, 

 was enquu'iug into the position of scientific instruction in Britain, 

 and botany at the British Museuni came under severe criticism 

 from two sides : Ivew claiunng a monopoly of collections, and from 

 the teaching colleges of London. lu the end, the Botanical 

 Department of the British Museum remained, and the new keeper 

 proceeded to develo|) its powers. In the years 1881-3, tlie collec- 

 tions from the botanical, zoological, and geological departments 

 were removed from the overcrowded galleries at Bloomsbury, to 

 the new building facing Cromwell Road, South Kensington, and 

 thereby the exhibits were more adequately displayed. A special 

 library had to be formed, as the Ba,nksian liibrary was tenaciously 

 held by the Printed Book Department at Bloomsbury, only certain 

 duplicates being allowed to go westward. Our late Eeilow threw 

 himself whole-heartedly into the acquisition of new libraries, 

 namely, a general library common to all the departments from 

 which they could draw, or refer to, consisting of series of volumes 

 of societies' issues which embraced more sciences than one; the 

 other libraries being those required in constant use by the 

 respective departments, and specially relating to their own branch. 

 Mr. Carrutliers employed outside assistance to copy the press- 

 marks of the Banksian and later volumes in the Printed Book 

 Department, into a special copy of Pritzel's ' Thesaurus,' ed. II., 

 which he then handed to Mr. Justen, of Dulau & Co., then in 

 Soho Square, who took u[) the work of getting as many books as 

 possible from home and foreign booksellers; the result being a 

 library of the most extensive and valuable kind, which is still 

 maintained by the Trustees. 



Besides his activities in remodelling the Department, J\[r. 

 Carrutliers in 1871 began his reports to the Royal Agricultural 

 Society as their consulting botanist, on the germiuative quality of 

 seeds, plant pests, diseases, and the like, which he continued for 

 38 years, till 1909. 



Elected a Pellow of the Linnean Society on the 7th Februar}^, 

 1861, he lived to be the senior Fellow but one, and was energetic 

 in his services to the Society. He served repeatedly on the 

 Council, 20 years in all, 12 of them as a Vice-President, and 

 the period of I88G-90 as President, his term of office falling 



