lxvi PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [vol. lxxix, 



Museum of Natural History, West Ham. It was by teaching (at 

 Morley College, Toynbee Hall, and other places), by collecting 

 material, and by his photographic work rather than by writing 

 papers, that Mr. Reader contributed unostentatiously to the 

 advancement of Archaeological and Geological Science. He had 

 been a Fellow of our Society since 1891. 



THE EARLIER RECORDS OF PLANT-LIFE. 



The occupant of the Presidential chair has exceptional opportu- 

 nities of appreciating the extent and varied character of the field 

 which geologists are industriously tilling ; he is made conscious of 

 the fact, that to speak intelligently with his fellow-workers in the 

 dialects of their respective branches of the subject, is beyond the 

 reach of the ordinary specialist. Omniscience is to the few ; 

 fortunately, to the very few. 



I cannot claim to be a geologist : there was a time when, with 

 the confidence of youth, I fancied that the term might not be 

 inapplicable ; but, acting on the advice of the late Prof. T. 

 McKenny Hughes, I left the main geological highway, and took 

 to the botanical road with the ultimate object of devoting myself, 

 so far as circumstances would permit, to the study of fossil plants. 

 The road which was followed, though it lead to pleasant places, 

 passed through a country for the greater part remote from that of 

 the geologist. The invitation to be your President was regarded 

 as an assurance that, in the opinion of the representatives of the 

 science to which I had mainly devoted myself as an undergraduate, 

 my small contributions to the botany of the past come within the 

 purview of the Society. Labour is said to be its own reward ; but 

 to most of us the reward which gives the greatest pleasure and 

 the strongest stimulus is derived from the kindness and encourage- 

 ment of colleagues. It was the consciousness that the Society 

 desired to extend to Paleobotany a recognition equal to that 

 previously given to other branches of Geology in the broadest 

 sense, which gave me courage to follow my own inclination, instead 

 of asking myself how far I could expect to perform efficiently the 

 duties pertaining to this exalted position. 



A considerable portion of palseobotanical work is concerned with 

 .the description of the waifs and strays of floras of different ages 



