xxxiv Annual Report of tlic Council. 



His early taste for scientific recreation was doubtless largely 

 influenced by his neighbours, Sir Joseph Prestwich and Charles 

 Darwin, as well as by his life-long friend, Sir John Evans. So, 

 at the age of twenty-five, he became a Fellow of the Geological 

 Society of London, and, three years later, a Fellow of the Royal 

 Society. 



In his earlier years, Lord Avebury took a special interest in 

 the remarkable communal instincts of insects, out of which arose 

 a long series of observations which were recorded in several 

 volumes and papers, of which the " Ants, Bees and Wasps " is 

 the best known. Though he never professed to be an original 

 investigator in the field of Geology, he nevertheless followed 

 closely the progress of research, especially in the region of 

 physiography, and his " Scenery of Switzerland " is deservedly 

 regarded as a classic among the works which endeavour to bring 

 the larger problems of earth-history within the grasp of the 

 educated public. But his contributions to Prehistoric Arche- 

 ology must always rank above all his other scientific attainments. 

 With Prestwich and Evans he must be regarded as one of the 

 founders of the modern study of primitive man ; it was among 

 his earliest interests, and his last literary effort was the revision 

 of his great work on " Prehistoric Times." His work in this 

 field was recognised by the Geological Society in 1903 by the 

 first bestowal of the Prestwich Medal. 



Lord Avebury was one of those pre-eminent men in 

 honouring whom all learned associations delight to honour 

 themselves. Universities, learned societies and national institu- 

 tions in all parts of the world showered their distinctions upon 

 him, and to name even the societies over which he presided 

 would be tedious. 



Though we naturally give precedence to his eminence in 

 the world of Science, his fame was equally justified by his 

 activity as a man of affairs. As a banker he was a recognised 

 leader, and as a politician he unobtrusively brought about 

 numerous reforms of a philanthropic character, notably the 

 institution of l^ank Holidays. For thirty years he was a mem- 



