The Present Position of Palaeozoic Botanj'. 217 



hoped that the increasing interest in the subject may lead to this 

 result. 



There is room, even with the existing material, for important 

 work on somewhat different lines from those which have hitherto 

 been pursued. The subject of the conditions under which the coal- 

 plants, for example, grew, the biological character of the flora, and 

 the physiological anatomy of the plants preserved as petrifactions, 

 otfers a wide and promising field of research. A more extended 

 knowledge of Palaeozoic floras from such points of view as these 

 would be of the greatest interest in itself, and would also react very 

 advantageously on the study of evolutionary problems. 



