LIFE OF JOSHUA ALDER. Xlll 



were exhibited, and conversation was for the most part con- 

 fined to scientific subjects; and the meeting broke up about 

 midnight. Naturalists who resided in neighbouring places, 

 or who were passing through Newcastle,, were frequently 

 invited as guests ; and as such a guest I was, when a young- 

 man, once present and enjoyed a delightful evening." 



A spirit of enthusiasm was naturally engendered by these 

 meetings, as the members were continually acquiring know- 

 ledge and a more extended range of interest from companion- 

 ship with those who were pursuing different paths through 

 the fields of Natural Science. It cannot be wondered, there- 

 fore, that during the thirty following years in- which the 

 ' Wednesday Evening Meetings' were held, and long after- 

 wards, Newcastle was famous for that band of scientific 

 citizens which was unequalled in any other provincial town. 



In 1829 Alder was one of the founders of the Natural 

 History Society of Northumberland and Durham, and he 

 took a keen and active interest in the formation of its valuable 

 Museum and acted as one of its Honorary Curators. 



In 1831 there was published in the first volume of the 

 ' Transactions of the Natural History Society of Northumber- 

 land and Durham' (Vol. I, pp. 26-41) Alder's first paper on 

 Mollnsca, "A Catalogue of Land and Freshwater Testaceous 

 Mollusca found in the vicinity of Newcastle-upon-Tyne," to 

 which a Supplement was added six years later (Vol. II, 

 pp. 337-342). A French translation of the former was pub- 

 lished by Ferussac in his ' Bulletin des Sciences Naturelles, 

 (Vol. XXVII, p. 195). This catalogue was the fullest local 

 list of inland Mollusca which up to that time had been given. 

 It contained 77 species, of which Helix pura, radiatula, and 

 gramdata, Vertigo alpestris, Planorlils Ifevix, and Pisidium 

 cinereum were described as new. 



Shortly after this time Alder turned his attention to the 

 marine Mollusca, and his first paper in connection with these 

 studies was published in 1841. His chief collecting-ground 

 was the southern portion of the Northumberland coast, more 

 especially Cullercoats, where the littoral zone was constantly 

 explored, and satisfactory use made of the rejectamenta 

 brought to shore in the boats of the long-line fishermen. In 

 the summer months longer excursions were taken, when, 

 always accompanied by Miss Alder, he visited each year some 

 distant part of our shores. On the south-west coast he stayed 

 at Torquay, Plymouth, Fowey, Falmouth, and Ilfracombe ; 011 



* Norman, in President's Address, ' Report of Proceedings of the Museums 

 Association,' Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1895, p. 3. 



