4i6 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



for a year or two the possibility of 

 starting a society devoted to the inves- 

 tigation of the natural history of the 

 vicinity, and, having resolved to try it, 

 they issued a few circulars, called a meet- 

 ing, which was attended by some forty 

 gentlemen, drew up a few rules, and es- 

 tablished the association. The object 

 is so praiseworthy, and the plan so well 

 worth imitating in other places, that 

 some account of the operations of this 

 club may prove acceptable to many 

 readers. 



The club was organized by the ap- 

 pointment of a President, two Vice- 

 Presidents, a Secretary-Treasurer, and 

 a committee of five other members, all 

 of whom are to constitute a Council of 

 Management. Ladies and gentlemen de- 

 siring to join the club may become 

 members by paying a fee of fifty cents 

 a year. The club secures its objects by 

 means of excursions in the summer 

 for making observations and collecting 

 specimens ; and by holding evening 

 meetings and soirees in the winter for 

 reading papers, discussion, and exhi- 

 bition, and the display and comparison 

 of natural history objects, the general 

 direction of these proceedings being 

 vested in the Council. 



The Council reports at the end of 

 the first year that the work has gone 

 on satisfactorily so as to alFord every en- 

 couragement for continuing it. Large 

 numbers, of course, do not take to such 

 projects as this ; and of those who do, 

 or who join with entire good will, 

 only a small portion have interest 

 enough in the objects to be attained to 

 discharge well the duties of member- 

 ship. This is always to be counted 

 upon in such undertakings, and should 

 wisely moderate the expectations of the 

 more sanguine. We are informed that 

 the Council met twenty times during 

 the year for the transaction of business, 

 at irregular intervals, as occasion re- 

 quired ; and at these meetings there 

 was an average attendance of nearly 

 seven out of nine of the Councilors, 



This certainly shows well, but the offi- 

 cers were of course picked for their in- 

 terest in the work. The members were 

 less dutiful. There were five excur- 

 sions in the course of the summer to 

 attractive points in the vicinity of Ot- 

 tawa, but only a small part of the mem- 

 bers accompanied them. This indiffer- 

 ence is thus referred to in the annual 

 report: "The Council feel compelled 

 to express their regret that, although 

 these excursions were to the most in- 

 teresting places in the neighborhood, 

 and the price of tickets put so low that 

 three of them did not pay expenses, so 

 few of the members thought them worth 

 attending. It does not say much for 

 the interest the members take in the 

 club's work, that, with a membership 

 of over eighty, the average attendance 

 at the excursions should be only thirty, 

 fully one third of whom were visitors ; 

 and they hope that during the coming 

 season the excursions will be better 

 supported by the members of the club," 

 But if the members did not care 

 to go on the summer expeditions, they 

 were less remiss when it came to the 

 winter meetings. The winter course 

 of soirees and conversaziones was suc- 

 cessful in every respect. There was 

 a well-sustained attendance, and the 

 papers read were not only of consider- 

 able range but also of serious scientific 

 interest. They were on the following 

 subjects: 1. "Inaugural Address," on the 

 pleasure of understanding common ob- 

 jects ; 2. " Graphite of the Ottawa Val- 

 ley " ; 3. " On the Forms and Structures 

 of some Spongillaj found in the Ottawa"; 

 4. " The Connection of Botany with 

 Mythology"; 5. " Cystidian Life"; 

 6, " Museum Education " ; 7. " On the 

 Contractility of the Spores of Palmella 

 Hytilina"; 8, "Asbestos"; 9, "A 

 Practical Demonstration of the Human 

 Brain"; 10, "Design in Nature"; 11, 

 "Land and Fresh-water Shells of the 

 Ottawa Valley " ; 12, " On some In- 

 sects captured at our Excursions " ; 13, 

 " On some Plants collected during our 



