THE 



GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 



NEW SERIES. DECADE IV. VOL. IX. 



No. I.— JANUARY, 1902. 



THE RETIREMENT OF DR. HENRY WOODWARD. 

 (WITH A PORTRAIT, PLATE I.) 



THE retirement of its Editor from official life, after a period of 

 more than 43 years spent in tlie public service, is an event which 

 should not be passed over in silence in this Magazine. And during 

 his absence from England the opportunity may be taken to remind 

 both its geological and zoological readers (no one at the present 

 day, we presume, desires to be called a paleeontologist) how deeply 

 they are indebted to Dr. Woodward for conducting the Geological 

 Magazine for the long period it has been under his charge as Editor- 

 in-chief. For those who have no regular official duties, which must 

 take precedence of all else, the task of editing a monthly scientific 

 journal, and supplying, when necessary, ' copy ' from their own pens 

 to fill gaps, is no light one ; but it is one that can be described by 

 no other word than irksome when it has to be performed while 

 running in official harness. Nevertheless, since 1865 the Editor has 

 conscientiously carried on this labour from month to month and 

 from year to year without complaint — and to the satisfaction, we 

 believe, of all his numerous readers. Punctually at the commence- 

 ment of each month the Geological Magazine makes its appearance; 

 and we trust that it may long continue to do so under the same able 

 editorship. 



After its 'coming of age' in 1885, full reference was made in its 

 pages to the Editor's connection with this journal.^ And it will be 

 unnecessary, therefore, on this occasion to repeat the eulogium then 

 passed by Professor Bonney, except to add that since that date more 

 than fifteen extra years of editorial work have been accomplished. 

 If, as Dr. Bonney said, geologists and zoologists were at that time 

 under a heavy load of debt to Dr. Woodward, their obligations must 

 now be enormously increased. 



As some indication of the amount of work, apart from editing this 

 journal, that has been accomplished by Dr. Woodward, it may be 

 mentioned that up to the year 1897 the list of his more important 

 memoirs, papers, and addresses (a few written in conjunction with 



1 Geol. Mag., 1886, p. 45. 



DECADE IV. — TOL. IX. NO. I. 1 



