19 
well. Now, of those 75, some are to-day very abundant, but about 
a dozen would require a great deal of looking for. The 
interesting “Rambles of a ‘Naturalist,’ by our worthy 
Secretary, would, perhaps, bear revision, as far as its list of plants 
is concerned ; although, for reasons touched upon in this paper, 
it does not do to use the pruning knife too freely. A few additions 
might be made. Some people collect plants, and some study and 
love them. Collectors dig up reots to any extent, but botanists— 
real botanists—gather most sparingly, and not at all if specimens 
are very scarce. Remember a botanist is a person in love with 
what is called nature, and is not a destroyer. And now, to con- 
clude, this paper is not a deep one, nor was it meant to be. What 
there is in it in the way of fact, as a result of twenty years’ ex- 
perience, could be amplified and made much more worthy the 
attention of any scientific botanist. My last wordis one of thanks 
for plants, which I had not before seen in the neighbourhood, re- 
ceived from Dr. Thomas Eastes, Mrs. Eastes, Mr. Nicholson, Mr. 
Jenner (of Sandgate), and Mr. Ullyett. 1 shall be very glad to 
name local specimens for anybody, as far as may be in my power. 
Several questions were asked afterwards and replied to by the 
lecturer, and the usual vote of thanks was awarded. The President 
was absent through illness. 
Apri 1l1rx, 1897. 
About sixty members were present, the President in the chair. 
The Secretary read the following paper on 
THE INFLUENCE OF GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY 
UPON HISTORY. 
“Man,” it has been said, ‘‘is the creature of circumstances.” 
This aphorism, taken by itself, conveys a decidedly wrong impres- 
sion ; in consequence it has been, and still is made, the ground of 
very erroneous conclusions, especially in reference to moral 
responsibility. If the assertion were made in reference to the 
lower animals only, there would be little or nothing to say against 
it; and in fact it is the chief article in the creed of the Survival of 
the Fittest. But so far as human beings are concerned, it has to 
be checked and modified by a well-known fact, viz :—that man has 
the power of controlling circumstances,—that he can to a large 
extent guide them, and even arrange them for himself. Thus, 
