October 13, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



479 



summer through the renewed generosity of 

 Mr. Sutcliffe, was finally closed down, I 

 obtained two series of nodules, ranging 

 from the floor to the roof of the seam, and 

 have had these cut for detailed examina- 

 tion. I should not, however, like to make 

 any generalizations from these isolated 

 series, but intend, during the coming 

 winter, to investigate in the same manner 

 further series taken from large blocks of 

 nodules, which have been removed bodily 

 so as to retain the position they occupied 

 in the seam. Though at present the data 

 are only fragmentary, there seems to be 

 some indication that the plant-remains are 

 not without some relation to their position 

 in the seam. Of course, Stigmarian root- 

 lets are ubiquitous, and in the nodules of 

 the lower part of the seam predominant, 

 but other plant-remains appear to be more 

 frequently found at one level of the seam 

 than another. The problem, however, is 

 very involved, and it has become apparent 

 that it is as important to study the fine 

 debris in which the larger fragments are 

 embedded as the distribution of these 

 latter. Moreover, attention must be paid 

 to the stage of decomposition presented by 

 the particles forming the matrix of the 

 nodule, as this varies in the lower and 

 upper parts of a seam, very much as in a 

 peat-bed we can distinguish the lighter- 

 colored fibrous peat from the darker layers 

 at the base of a peat-cutting. Mr. Lomax, 

 who has so unique an experience of these 

 coal-balls, informs me that he can tell 

 whether a nodule is from the top or bot- 

 tom of the seam by the lighter or darker 

 color of the matrix. The importance of 

 applying the methods which have been so 

 successful in elucidating the history of 

 modern peat-deposits to the investigation 

 of the coal-seam will be clearly appreci- 

 ated both by paleobotanists and ecologists, 

 and this particular problem offers a strik- 



ing illustration of the interdependence of 

 various branches of botanical investigation. 

 It is fortunate indeed that the two fields 

 of work, paleobotany and plant ecology, 

 though they have been subjected to fairly 

 intensive cultivation, have not become ex- 

 clusively the domain of specialists. The 

 strength and progress of modern botany 

 have been due to the close collaboration of 

 workers engaged in different branches of 

 botanical science, and the fact that British 

 ecologists have combined to attack a series 

 of the problems from very diverse points 

 of view leads one to hope that, with a con- 

 tinuance of that intimate cooperation 

 Avhich has characterized their work so far, 

 and with the added stimulus of the friendly 

 visit of our distinguished colleagues from 

 abroad, considerable progress may be ex- 

 pected in the future in this branch of bo- 

 tanical study. Privileged as I have been 

 to assist at the deliberations of the British 

 ecologists, without as yet having taken any 

 active part in their work, I feel myself at 

 liberty to point with appreciation to the 

 excellent beginning they have made of a 

 botanical survey of Great Britain and Ire- 

 land, as well as to the more detailed in- 

 vestigations of special associations and 

 formations, such as the woodlands, the 

 moorlands, the fens, the broads, salt 

 marshes and shingle beaches. I am glad 

 to think that our foreign visitors have been 

 able to see these interesting types of vege- 

 tation under the guidance of those who 

 have made a special study of these subjects. 

 The importance to ecologists of an up- 

 to-date critical flora was dwelt upon by 

 my predecessor in this presidential chair, 

 and this obvious need may be regarded as 

 a further illustration of the interrelation- 

 ship of the various aspects of botanical 

 science. Though it has been obvious to all 

 that the swing of the pendulum has been 

 for a long time away from pure systematic 



