HERTFORDSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
xxiii 
He was there, as they saw, occupying the presidential chair, and, 
he believed, called upon to give a presidential address. But it 
would he hopeless for him, at something less than thirty-six hours’ 
notice, to attempt to give anything that would be worthy of their 
attention from a natural-history point of view. He had therefore 
looked among such papers as he had by him to see if he had any¬ 
thing which might he suitable to give to a society mainly interested 
in natural history. He had heard of the unfortunate clergyman 
who, having to preach on behalf of an infirmary, went to his store 
of sermons, and found one which began by recommending liberal 
giving, but when he got to the middle of his sermon discovered 
that he was preaching rather on behalf of a new organ than an 
infirmary. He should not, however, fall into an error of that kind, 
though the subject upon which he proposed to address them might 
not at first sight appear to he one strictly adapted to a Natural 
History Society. His subject was one on which he had already 
addressed the Royal Institution in London, some nine years ago— 
“ The Coinage of the Ancient Britons, and Natural Selection.” 
This Society had extended its bounds to some extent so as to 
embrace Pre-historic Archaeology, but how far the Coinage of the 
Ancient Britons came within the limits of Pre-historic Archaeology 
he would not venture to determine. It might be said at the outset 
that there did not appear to be any close connection between the 
coinage of any country and the theory of natural selection. He 
hoped, however, even if they did at the first fail to find any con¬ 
nection of that kind, that some slight sketch of the early history of 
our country, so far as the coinage is concerned, at a time when it 
had not as yet been brought under the Roman yoke, might not be 
altogether uninteresting. If in addition he should be able to show 
that the succession of the types of the Ancient British coins followed 
certain laws, to a great extent analogous with those by which the 
evolution of successive forms of organic life appear to be governed, 
the two subjects would no longer appear to be incongruous. Should 
he go on to show that a recognition of the successive stages of 
development in the coinage was absolutely necessary for its being 
properly understood, and for placing the various coins in even 
approximately chronological order, it would be seen that instead 
of a want of coherence, there was, in fact, an intimate connection 
between the two portions of the subject. 
Coins are excellent indicim of the state of civilization of any 
country. They exhibit the condition of the arts, especially with 
regard to the production of metals, and metallurgy, as well as the 
skill of the engravers. They also illustrate the amount of commerce 
as distinct from barter, for the more numerous the denominations of 
the coins, the greater must have been the demand for them for the 
daily necessities of life; while their values and proportions, as 
compared with those of neighbouring countries, and the character 
of the types upon them, may illustrate the relations of one country 
to those around it. The devices on the coins also frequently serve 
to throw a light on the history and mythology of the countries in 
