142 PROCEEDINGS COTTESWOLD CLUB 191 1 



day gain immortality in the ranks of the leaders by being 

 able to show that he anticipated some great discoyery by 

 some tentative interpretation of scientific facts. 



Again, we constitute a Club, not a Society, a distinction 

 of great importance, because it gives emphasis to the fact 

 that it is not composed of a fortuitous aggregate of Members 

 who seldom meet as a corporate body, and are interested in 

 the annually published literature rather than in our Meetings 

 and Excursions. On the contrary, our aim is to bring together 

 in friendly co-operation and social intercourse, a number of 

 gentlemen engaged in the investigation of the many problems 

 of science and archseology for which the wealth of material 

 found in our district provides such ample opportunity, in the 

 hope that we may be able to supply some addition to the 

 general stock of knowledge. This object is largely promoted 

 by the visits to many places of interest in our neighbourhood, 

 for which the arrangements have been so ably carried out by 

 our excellent Honorary Secretary, Mr Richardson, and his 

 understudy, Mr Paris, to both of whom I beg to express my 

 acknowledgments for such generous assistance during the 

 period while I have had the honour to occupy this Chair. 



The most important work to which the Club is at present 

 pledged is, of course, the preparation of the Coimty Flora, 

 which I am glad to say our late President, Rev. W. Butt, 

 continues to supervise. Needless to say, the work could not 

 be placed in abler hands. You have seen the progress report 

 of this work, which indicates that a number of enthusiastic 

 workers are engaged in the collection of the mass of specimens 

 which must be classified before the final summarisation can 

 be attempted. It is also a matter of congratulation that the 

 work of investigation into the geological and palaeontological 

 records which our district so abundantly supplies is now being 

 systematically prosecuted. We have had, during the year, 

 important papers on the geology and palaeontology of the 

 Cotteswolds by Messrs Gray and Upton, besides the contribu- 

 tions which we are accustomed to receive from Messrs Richard- 

 son and Paris, all excellent examples of the work which can be 

 usefully accomplished by a Field Club. After all, the collection 

 and arrangement of the local facts in all the branches of geology. 



