18 
‘‘ intent on acliieving a great work, and doing it thoroughly 
‘‘ well. Of M. Barrande it may indeed with truth he said that 
t/ 
“ whatsoever his hand found to do he did it with his might.” 
Another well-known Honorary Member of the Society, the 
Rev. Professor Dr. Oswald Heer, of Zurich, died at Zurich on 
the 27th of September, 1883, at the age of 75, and had the 
reputation of being one of the greatest of fossil botanists. 
His best known work, “ The Primaeval World of Switzerland,” 
has been translated by a former Keeper of this Museum, Mr. 
Dallas, in 1876. “Professor Heer entered the ITniversity of 
“ Halle in 1828 to study Theology, and when he left the 
“ University in 1832 he was ordained, hut had to choose 
“ between accepting the post of Pastor in the Lutheran Church 
“ and that of Curator of the Entomological Collection in the 
“ Museum at Zurich. He chose the latter, and became connected 
“ with the University, and was afterwards Professor of Botany 
“ in the well-known Polytechnicum from its first establishment 
“ in 1855. Here his lectures were delivered regularly, and 
“ were not even suspended when he was confined to his bed, 
“ and some idea of his marvellous energy can he formed from 
“ the fact that the Royal Society’s Catalogue assigns 95 titles of 
“ separate papers to him up to 1874.” Professor Heer was not 
ashamed to own that nature was to him the great guide to 
nature’s Grod. 
The following is the concluding paragraph of the work above 
referred to, by which he is chiefly known in this country :— 
“ An advanced knowledge of nature leads to a profound con- 
“ viction that the enigmas of the natural world and of human 
“ life can only he solved by a belief in an Almighty Creator, 
“ and in the Creation of the heaven and the earth by Divine 
“ Wisdom, according to an eternal and preconceived plan. 
“ Nature, as well as the heart of man, bears witness to the 
“ existence of Grod, and it is only when seen from this point of 
“ view that the marvellous Greological History of Switzerland, 
“ with its plants and animals, appears in its true light, and 
“ affords the highest gratification.” 
The Council have to report that in July last, in consequence 
of failing health, Mr. Keeping resigned the ofiice of Keeper of 
