4 PROCEEDINGS COTTESWOLD CLUB 1912 



the performance worthy of the scientific traditions of the Club, 

 it is necessary, first, to codify the existing records, a serious 

 and laborious undertaking ; secondly, to make a definite at- 

 tempt to cover all that large area of the County which is as 

 yet untouched ; thirdly, to attempt to work out the various 

 critical forms, a task the complexity of which is becoming 

 more and more obvious as it extends over a large number of 

 genera. A work like this can, of course, never be absolutely 

 complete, but it constitutes the most important feature of the 

 scheme. The subject is at present in competent hands, and 

 we may hope that as the scientific importance of the project 

 becomes more fully understood, we may be able to command 

 the services of a larger body of skilled workers in the field, as 

 well as those of trained botanists, who will undertake the duty 

 of identifying and collating the vast collection of material 

 which has now been brought together. 



As the special part of this Address, I venture to draw 

 your attention to the present situation of some problems con- 

 nected with prehistoric man in the light of recent important 

 investigations. It is needless to say that the solution of these 

 difficult questions largely depends upon the co-operation of 

 the sciences of geology and paUeontology with the work of the 

 anthropologist. This subject is thus of special importance to 

 the working members of a Club which particularly interests 

 itself in geological research throughout a district which fur- 

 nishes such varied and excellent material in the areas of the 

 Cotteswold hills, the Severn valley, and the tracts which lie 

 on their borders. 



The problem, as a whole, is mainly one of stratification. 

 The task which the anthropologist has now undertaken is to 

 bring the scanty remains of primitive man into relation with 

 the evolution of the geological strata, which alone can supply 

 a time test by which the sequence of the successive appear- 

 ances and progressive development of the human race may be 

 ascertained with any approach to certainty. 



The first question is : What is the earliest geological 

 period in which we can trace the appearances of man or of his 

 closely allied forerunners ? Putting aside, for the present, 

 some speculations to which I shall refer later on, the geologist 



