Albert Stanley Marsh. 83 
Stangeria paradoxa" (New Phytologist, Jan., 1914). A large part 
of the winter of 1913-14 he devoted to investigating the anatomy of 
some xerophilous ferns and the results of this work were critically 
presented in “ The anatomy of some xerophilous species of Cheil. 
anthes and Pellcea ” (Annals of Botany, October, 1914). 
Stimulated by the sudden appearance of Azolla in large 
quantities in a ditch by Jesus Close, he also at this time put 
together a summary of the curious sporadic occurrences of the two 
species of this plant in Western Europe—“ The history of the 
occurrence of Azolla in the British Isles and in Europe generally” 
(Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, February, 
1914). All his papers are marked not only by sound critical ability, 
but by a certain distinction of style. One of his friends says “ bis 
precision in the use of language was a constant spur to a careless 
person like myself.” 
Perhaps Marsh’s most promising work was his attack upon the 
conditions of competition between two closely allied species 
naturally inhabiting different types of soil, when grown in compe¬ 
tition under controlled conditions on the two soils. The experi¬ 
ments he devised were already bringing good results when be left 
Cambridge to join the army. 
In the spring and summer of 1914, Marsh was carrying on this 
work, finishing his Holme paper and collecting material for some 
research on the Ranales that he had in view. At midsummer 
several of us spent a fortnight or three weeks in Provence, for the 
study of the vegetation between Marseilles and the Maritime Alps. 
Marsh was of the party and revelled in his introduction to the 
vegetation of so distinct a climate and in his first glimpse of the 
high alpines. On his return to Cambridge, be demonstrated, as he 
had done the summer before, for Dr. Moss’s field classes. For 
some time previously he had demonstrated in the elementary 
botany and elementary biology practical classes. 
We were all rather dazed by the outbreak of war early in 
August and I remember Marsh reading Treitschke and trying hard 
to get the German standpoint. As un-militarist by nature as he 
could be, he evidently did some hard thinking away from Cambridge 
during September and when he came up in mid-October he at once 
joined the O.T.C. and put in every afternoon at the preliminary 
training. At the end of the month or early in November he applied 
for an infantry commission and in less than three weeks was 
given a commission as second lieutenant in the 8th battalion 
