IX MEMORIAM : JAMES SPEXCER. 
475 
in 1896 was elected Chairman of the Yorkshire Fossil Flora 
Committee. 
The favourite haunts of his study of geology were the coal 
pits at Low Moor and at Clifton, near Brighouse, also at Beacon 
Hill and in the valley of Shibden. High Green Wood and Horse 
Bridge Clough, above Hebden Bridge, were often visited by 
Mr. Spencer when investigating and collecting fossils from the 
Yoredale rocks. The number of man}^ happy hours he spent 
here in company with Mr. Ash worth, of Hebden Bridge, the 
late Captain Aitkin, of Bacup, and the Author, might be 
attested, if need be, by the collection of fossils from this locality, 
of which he was always proud. About 1871 Mr. Spencer became 
especially interested in the study of the structure of fossil plants 
which occur in nodules derived from the Halifax Hard Bed 
Coal. At first he found this kind of work very difficult to 
perform, as he had to break the petrified stems of plants out 
of the hard nodules, then chip thin pieces off with a chisel, then 
rub them down on the sink-stone until they were so thin that 
light would shine through them. Then they had to be polished 
and mounted on glass with Canada balsam before the structure 
could be seen to advantage with a microscope. By this primitive 
and laborious method of preparing microscopic slides of fossil 
wood, Mr. Spencer worked disadvantageously for some time. At 
length he fortunately met with Mr. John Butterworth, of Shaw, 
near Oldham, who was an adept at this kind of work, having 
been for several years engaged in preparing and studying micro- 
scopic slides from the coal-balls of Lancashire. This gentleman 
kindly and unhesitatingly agreed to show him a more scientific 
and quicker method of preparing his slides, and he helped him 
to set up a machine for cutting and grinding. He also gave 
him instructions in the art of polishing, mounting, and preparing 
specimens for scientific use. Thus equipped, Mr. Spencer set to 
work with a determination to do something in the comparatively 
new field of research, and the success he achieved in that 
particular branch of science may easily be gleaned from the 
many hundreds of beautiful slides of Calamites, Lepidodendron, 
