200 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 



in possibilities. In addressing an audience, most of whom are not primarily 

 concerned with plants that have been dead for millions of years, it is prefer- 

 able to run the risk of disappointing palaeobotanical colleagues by being 

 too popular rather than to weary the majority by an over emphasis of 

 technical detail. Twenty-six years ago as President of this Section I 

 chose an ambitious text and discoursed on ' Floras of the Past : their 

 composition and distribution,' a theme which, if adequately treated, would 

 occupy more than the whole time allotted to a British Association Meeting. 

 To-day, as befits my years, the programme is more modest : it includes a 

 brief consideration of the age of the late Palaeozoic Ice Age in South 

 Africa and other parts of the great continent of Gondwanaland ; the lack 

 of data relating to a critical stage in the evolution of the plant-world, 

 represented in the table of contents of earth-history by the passage from 

 the Palaeozoic to the Mesozoic era ; a brief reference to the difficult and 

 attractive problem of fossil plants as tests of climate ; and the importance 

 of extinct plants as aids to the understanding of the distribution of living 

 plants over the earth's surface. 



We whose privilege it is to visit South Africa, some of us with pleasant 

 recollections of former visits, are not unmindful of the share taken in 

 botanical science by our fellow workers in the southern hemisphere. On 

 this occasion, at least, I can confidently speak for all the visiting members 

 of the Section and assure our hosts of the pleasure it gives us to take part 

 in a reunion which symbolises the brotherhood of science and the oneness 

 of the aim of all whose lives are mainly devoted to the interpretation of 

 Nature. Our interests are diverse and embrace both the present and 

 the past ; but we are united by a common bond- — a determination to 

 co-operate in the search for the best thing in the world, the discovery of 

 truth, which has been defined as the hypothesis which works best. 

 Whether we succeed or not, we learn that beyond the material reward, 

 which may follow sustained effort, there is a higher reward which comes 

 from communing with Nature, a spiritual influence seldom acknowledged, 

 though none the less an influence which, if we will respond to it, lifts us to 

 a place where the air is pure and the petty prejudices and jealousies of life 

 have no place. My excuse, if excuse be needed, for speaking in this strain 

 is that we who love Science for its own sake resent the implication that 

 those who pry into the secrets of Nature are in danger of developing into 

 mere materialists whose vision of the infinite becomes dimmed. 



I take this opportunity of paying a tribute to South African friends to 

 whom I am personally indebted : Dr. Rogers, an old friend of Cambridge 

 days, has for many years submitted to me specimens for identification — 

 by no means always with satisf jdng results ; Mr. Du Toit, who has for- 

 tunately fallen a victim to the fascination of ancient floras ; and another 

 old friend, Mr. Leslie of Vereeniging, whose kindness and infectious enthusi- 

 asm stimulated me many years ago to turn my attention to the records 

 preserved in the older beds of the Karroo system. This country is rich 

 in documents written ' in the ghostly language of the ancient earth,' and 

 there is still a rich harvest to be gathered. The important contributions 

 made by Mr. Du Toit in recent years may be quoted as an admirable 

 illustration of the kind of research which is needed. I hope one result of 

 this meeting will be an increase in the number of geologists and botanists 



