174 
The late Mr. H. M. Jenkins. 
they wanted. Mr. Jenkins was sent for to be looked at and 
questioned, and although he admitted his ignorance of agri- 
culture, the Committee unanimously recommended him for 
election, and he entered on his duties on the 1st of January, 
1869. He had already for six years been both Secretary and 
Editor to the Geological Society, and his application therefore 
rested on his experience of the equivalent office in one of the 
largest and oldest of the learned societies established in London ; 
and his very clear statement of the duties which he had already 
been in the habit of discharging, was really step by step a 
history of work exactly similar to that which the Royal Agri- 
cultural Society of England now wanted him to do. He could 
indeed, he said, lay no claim to the reputation of an agricul- 
turist or an agricultural writer, but he possessed a general 
acquaintance with farming operations, and a knowledge of the 
principles and practice of agricultural economy : and he believed 
that " a geological and chemical training might be regarded as 
an appropriate preparation for more extensive agricultural 
investigation than he had hitherto conducted. His knowledge 
of zoology and botany would assist him also in suggesting and 
prosecuting researches on subjects relating to the diseases of 
crops and domestic animals." I am quoting a sentence or two 
from the application which he sent in for the office, along with 
a very remarkable body of testimony to his fitness, from which 
the following examples may be also reproduced. 
Sir Roderick Impey jNIurchison warmly supported him. 
" Seeing how intimate is the dependence of the quality of the 
soil on the nature of the subsoil, I hope," he said, " that the 
accurate geological knowledge possessed by this gentleman will 
be considered no slight recommendation. In addition to this, 
his powers of classification, and his singularly adroit methods in 
editing the works of others, his accurate habits of business, 
whether as Librarian or in control of the accounts of any public 
body, cannot be overpassed." ^ 
Professor Huxley spoke of his occupation, since 1862, of the 
responsible post of Assistant Secretary to the Geological 
Society : " In that capacity it had been his duty to edit and 
manage the publication of the Quarterly Journal of the Society, 
which is an illustrated publication of great scientific importance, 
varied contents, and of no inconsiderable bulk. Of late 'years 
he has also looked into the accounts of the Society, and has 
been made responsible for the due discharge of the clerks' duties. 
In discharging these functions Mr. Jenkins had displayed great 
intelligence, knowledge, and punctuality, and given satisfaction 
to the officers and fellows of the Society." 
Here, therefore, Past Presidents and Secretaries, distinguished 
