;3S 



NA TURE 



[September 26, 1907 



ever, consisted of dinner at 5 p.m., the reading of 

 papers from seven to nine, after which often followed 

 an informal assembly, wherein, soothed by smoke 

 and stimulated by wine, discussion was prolonged 

 until after midnight. 



The Geological Society quickly justified its in- 

 dependence by raising the standard of scientific publi- 

 cation. It issued its Transactions on a scale of 

 magnificence which the society makes no attempt to 

 maintain. They were one of the finest scientific 

 serials of their day, and the style in which the 

 Government now issues the memoirs of our national 

 Geological Survey is beggarly in comparison. The 

 extravagance in illustration was possible owing to the 

 lavish generosity of the members. Many of them 

 were wealthy men, and they freelv spent their money 

 m promotmg the objects of the societv. Thus War- 

 burton advanced looo?. towards the preparation of 

 Greenough's "Geological Map of England," and 

 some of the members contributed an equal sum 

 towards its publication. Most of the founders and 

 early leaders of the society were men of distinction 

 and mfluence; they were peers, members of Parlia- 

 ment, city merchants, and men of that professional 

 class of which London is preeminentlv the home 

 According to Leonard Horner, the council of the 

 society elected in 1816 " was a Council fit to govern 

 the world." 



The young society was at first exclusive, and did 

 not represent the whole of British geology. It 

 elected forty-two honorary members, but the list did 

 not include William Smith. This strange omission 

 IS not clearly explained by the author, who hints 

 that It may have been due to social prejudice 

 Possibly It was partly due to the fact that William 

 Smith, m spite of the immense theoretical value of 

 his work, was essentially an economic geologist, and 

 he, like the two other prominent workers at applied 

 Sieology, Farey and Bakewell, did not join the 

 society. They may have regarded it as too academic, 

 and the society may have regarded them as too com- 

 mercial. On the other hand, Robert Jameson kept 

 aloof because the society despised his high soaring 

 flights. He was elected an honorary member in 

 December, 1807, but that was before the publication 

 of his "Elements of Geognosy," of which the pre- 

 face ^is dated " The College, Edinburgh, January, 

 1808"; if this work, a statement of Wernerian 

 geology, had been published a few months before, it 

 should have cost him his honorary membership. His 

 election did not apparently affect liim, for he promptly 

 founded the Wernerian Natural History Society at 

 Edinburgh in 1808, perhaps in order to combat the 

 grovelling geologists of London, and he does not 

 appear ever to have joined the London society or 

 taken any part in its proceedings. Was it ignorance 

 or irony that led to the selection of the society as 

 trustee of the Jameson fund, established to com- 

 memorate its greatest British protagonist? 



The early exclusiveness of the society was due to 

 Its enthusiasm as well as to its defined policy. The 

 election of new members had to be unanimous; 

 absence from meetings was to be punished by fines • 

 and no one could attend more than twice as a' visitor. 

 NO. 1978, VOI,. 76] 



Although the society was also a dining club, its first 

 ordinances were animated by the severe zeal of a 

 star-chamber. The members were delightfully con- 

 fident of their mission; according to the first con- 

 stitution " all questions on which difference of opinion 

 may arise shall be determined by ballot at the next 

 ordinary meeting," and according to the author 

 (p. 23) this rule appears to have been intended for 

 the summary settlement of geological problems, and 

 not of the society's business. But the society was 

 too successful for such regulations, which were burst 

 by the rapid growth in its roll of membership and 

 the immense influence of its scientific achievements. 



-Ml this early history of the society and a summary 

 of its work is now accessible in Mr. H. B. Wood- 

 ward's monograph, which has been prepared for the 

 centenary meeting to be held on September 26 to 28. 

 The council is to be congratulated on having 

 entrusted the work to an author who has an un- 

 rivalled knowledge of the literature of British strati- 

 graphical geology, and is possessor of a rich store 

 of traditional personal information. Mr. H. B. 

 Woodward has been aided by many helpers. 

 Amongst others. Sir Archibald Geikie and Prof. 

 Bonney have read the proofs, Mr. Monckton has 

 contributed an account of the medals, Mr. Herries 

 has edited the reprint of the charter, and Prof. Gar- 

 wood has arranged the excellent series of photo- 

 graphs. The author has compressed into 336 pages 

 of fairly open print a condensed account of the work 

 of the society, a guide to the available materials as 

 to its history, summaries of the lives of the founders 

 and chief early members, and instructive reprints or 

 summaries of important discussions, one of which 

 shows the reception accorded to Buckland's announce- 

 ment of the former glaciation of the British Isles. 

 Numerous appendices give lists of early fellows, of 

 the presidents and the subjects of their annual 

 addresses, of the council, the officers and officials, 

 the awards of medals and funds, and reprint of the 

 charter. The information is condensed, but apari 

 from the appendices it is never dull; it is enlivened 

 by racy stories and witty epigrams ; the materials 

 have been wisely selected, and presented with Mr. 

 ^^■oodward's usual literary skill. 



The author's personality comes out in selection 

 rather than in comment. He is perhaps too discreet, 

 for he hints at explanations where a definite state- 

 ment of his opinion would have been valuable. The 

 course of the society has not always run smooth, and 

 it is interesting to find that some of the modern 

 criticisms are similar to those made at intervals 

 through its life. A society with a strong policy and 

 a definite ideal cannot expect unanimous approval, 

 and its traditions have always been radical. It 

 secured on incorporation an unusually liberal charter, 

 and it has repeatedly been the pioneer in important 

 reforms. Amongst other innovations was the 

 admission of women to the meetings in 1S60, an 

 experiment abandoned, however, in 1863. 



Mr. H. B. Woodward's history is worthy of its 

 subject. He naturally devotes most attention to 

 British stratigraphy, but one chapter might perhaps 

 have been devoted to the society's contributions to 



