﻿1874.] 
  

  

  Election 
  of 
  Council 
  and 
  Officers. 
  

  

  73 
  

  

  and 
  the 
  extent 
  and 
  novelty 
  of 
  the 
  observations 
  which 
  they 
  contain, 
  but 
  

   by 
  reason 
  of 
  the 
  breadth 
  of 
  view 
  and 
  the 
  philosophical 
  spirit 
  which 
  per- 
  

   vade 
  them. 
  

  

  His 
  labours 
  in 
  Vegetable 
  Palaeontology 
  are 
  above 
  all 
  remarkable, 
  

   being 
  alike 
  laborious, 
  searching, 
  and 
  productive 
  of 
  important 
  results. 
  

   These 
  are 
  embodied 
  in 
  six 
  contributions 
  (of 
  which 
  the 
  last 
  will 
  soon 
  ap- 
  

   pear) 
  to 
  the 
  Philosophical 
  Transactions 
  upon 
  the 
  organization 
  of 
  the 
  Fossil 
  

   Plants 
  of 
  the 
  Coal-measures 
  — 
  and 
  one 
  on 
  the 
  restoration 
  of 
  a 
  Cycadeous 
  tree 
  

   {Zamia 
  gigas) 
  from 
  the 
  Yorkshire 
  Oolite, 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  Transactions 
  

   of 
  the 
  Linnean 
  Society. 
  These 
  are 
  not 
  only 
  models 
  of 
  laborious 
  research 
  

   and 
  exact 
  description, 
  but 
  they 
  are 
  illustrated 
  by 
  more 
  than 
  fifty 
  plates, 
  

   devoted 
  to 
  microscopic 
  analyses 
  of 
  vegetable 
  tissues, 
  obtained 
  by 
  making 
  

   transparent 
  slices 
  of 
  the 
  fossils. 
  Both 
  the 
  slices 
  and 
  the 
  drawings 
  are 
  

   made 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Williamson 
  himself, 
  who 
  thus, 
  to 
  his 
  reputation 
  as 
  a 
  

   biologist, 
  unites 
  those 
  of 
  an 
  accomplished 
  artist 
  and 
  a 
  skilful 
  lapidary, 
  

   qualifications 
  which 
  should 
  be 
  named 
  along 
  with 
  those 
  for 
  which 
  

   the 
  medal 
  is 
  awarded, 
  because 
  no 
  unscientific 
  lapidary 
  could 
  have 
  

   obtained 
  equally 
  illustrative 
  sections, 
  and 
  no 
  common 
  artist 
  could 
  have 
  

   depicted 
  them 
  with 
  equal 
  exactitude. 
  The 
  more 
  important 
  results 
  thus 
  

   obtained 
  refer 
  to 
  the 
  structure, 
  affinities, 
  and 
  reproductive 
  organs 
  of 
  

   Calamites 
  and 
  its 
  allies, 
  to 
  Lepidodendron, 
  Sigillaria, 
  Lepidostrobus, 
  Astero- 
  

   phyllites, 
  and 
  to 
  other 
  genera 
  of 
  the 
  Carboniferous 
  epoch. 
  

  

  In 
  addition 
  to 
  these 
  contributions 
  to 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  previously 
  known 
  

   genera 
  of 
  that 
  epoch, 
  Prof. 
  Williamson 
  has 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  show, 
  on 
  the 
  one 
  

   hand, 
  that 
  groups 
  of 
  now 
  living 
  plants 
  which 
  were 
  not 
  previously 
  supposed 
  

   to 
  have 
  a 
  great 
  geological 
  antiquity, 
  actually 
  flourished 
  during 
  the 
  Car- 
  

   boniferous 
  period, 
  and, 
  on 
  the 
  other, 
  that 
  plants 
  of 
  that 
  period 
  which 
  had 
  

   been 
  previously 
  referred 
  with 
  confidence 
  to 
  groups 
  now 
  living, 
  have 
  in 
  

   reality 
  other 
  and 
  widely 
  different 
  affinities. 
  

  

  The 
  Medal 
  was 
  received 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Williamson. 
  

  

  The 
  Statutes 
  relating 
  to 
  the 
  election 
  of 
  Council 
  and 
  Officers 
  having 
  

   been 
  read, 
  and 
  Mr. 
  A. 
  J. 
  Ellis 
  and 
  Col. 
  Strange 
  having 
  been, 
  with 
  the 
  

   consent 
  of 
  the 
  Society, 
  nominated 
  Scrutators, 
  the 
  votes 
  of 
  the 
  Fellows 
  

   present 
  were 
  collected, 
  and 
  the 
  following 
  were 
  declared 
  duly 
  elected 
  as 
  

   Council 
  and 
  Officers 
  for 
  the 
  ensuing 
  year 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  President. 
  — 
  Joseph 
  Dalton 
  Hooker, 
  C.B., 
  M.D., 
  D.C.L., 
  LL.D. 
  

   Treasurer. 
  — 
  William 
  Spottiswoode, 
  M.A., 
  LL.D. 
  

  

  „ 
  f 
  Prof. 
  George 
  Gabriel 
  Stokes, 
  M.A., 
  D.C.L., 
  LL.D. 
  

  

  secretaries. 
  j 
  p 
  rof 
  Thomag 
  Henry 
  jj^^ 
  LL 
  j) 
  ? 
  p 
  h 
  D 
  

  

  Foreign 
  Secretary. 
  — 
  Prof. 
  Alexander 
  William 
  Williamson, 
  Ph.D. 
  

   Other 
  Members 
  of 
  the 
  Council. 
  — 
  Prof. 
  J. 
  Couch 
  Adams, 
  LL.D.; 
  the 
  

   Duke 
  of 
  Devonshire, 
  K.Gk, 
  D.C.L. 
  ; 
  Capt. 
  Frederick 
  J. 
  0. 
  Evans, 
  E.X., 
  

  

  