€2 PItOLEEDI>'GS OF THE 



It \vas in 1876, when lie was transferred to Norfolk, that his 

 important botanical work was begun in connection witli the 

 exploration of the Cromer Forest-Bed with its wealtii of vegetable 

 remains. He depended in the first place on others for the iden- 

 tification of his specimens, but soon commenced to work them out 

 for himself. In consulting the public collections, he was met by 

 the difficulty tliat with many species ripe fruit and seeds which 

 he most required to see were lacking. To remedy this, with charac- 

 teristic energy, he set himself to form a collection of the fi-uitsand 

 seeds of British and Scandinavian plants likely to be required for 

 comparison with the fossils, and in this way obtained a much more 

 extended acquaintance with our flora, and an exceptional knowledge 

 of the fruiting condition of plants. In his first paper on the 

 Cromer deposits, only two plants were mentioned, but a litth- 

 later in his " Geology of the Country around Cromer"' he enumer- 

 ated thirty-eight, and in subsequent papers the number was 

 brought up to fifty-five. 



In 1888, in conjunction with ]Mr. H. X, Eidley, he gave an 

 account of the "Fossil Arctic plants from the lacustrine deposit at 

 Hoxne," and the same year contributed his first general paper on 

 the fossil flora of this country, entitled " Xotes on the Geological 

 History of the Recent Flora of Britain," in which 120 species were 

 referred to. This Avas followed in quick succession by a number 

 of papers dealing with the species found in various plant-deposits 

 and of the climatic changes of which they gave evidence, especially 

 as regards the occurrence of an inter-glacial period when the 

 climate was mild, as shown by the presence of plants which could 

 not have borne extreme cold. This theory he considered as con- 

 clusively proved. 



A particularly interesting little paper was produced in 1892, 

 "On the natural history of isolated ponds." In this he dealt 

 with problems of distribution and the causes of plant-dispersal 

 which always fascinated him. 



In 1897 he married Miss Eleanor Mary Wynne-Edwards, and 

 it was with that lady's able assistance and co-operation that most of 

 his subsequent work at fossil plants was accomplished. As the 

 field of investigation extended it became necessary not only to be 

 acquainted with the plants of Northern and AVestern Europe, but 

 practically with those of the world, for in some deposits startling 

 results were obtained, remains of plants being found which now 

 only occur in distant parts of the globe. In this direction Mrs. 

 Keid was particularly helpful, working for a long time at Kew 

 examining and making drawings of fruits, seeds, etc., to supple- 

 ment the collection already accumulated. 



In 1898 Eeid described Limnocarjms, a new (fossil) genus, and 

 published a paper on "Further contributions to the Geological 

 History of the British Flora," enumerating 240 species. 



In 1899 his book 'The Origin of the British Flora' appeared, 

 embodying the results of the author's many years of careful and 

 patient research, dealing with the means of dispersal of plants and 



