254 The Irish Naturalist. September, 



of the excursion. There was also, among the working 

 members of the part} r , an unusual disproportion as regards 

 the groups of animals or plants in which they were mainly 

 interested; and so, although the proportion of collectors was 

 not much below the average, the reports which fill the suc- 

 ceeding pages do not cover nearly so wide a field as on some 

 former occasions. The subject of conch ology was more 

 influentially represented than at any previous Conference, but 

 other equally important and larger groups were not touched ; 

 while the whole of cryptogarnic botany was without a repre- 

 sentative. But in spite of this curtailment of the field of 

 observations, plenty of good work was done, as the succeeding 

 reports will show, and some very interesting discoveries were 

 made. When to this is added the perfect weather, and the 

 beauty and interest of the various places visited, it is not to be 

 wondered at that many of the members voted the Cork Con- 

 ference to be one of the most successful and interesting that 

 has yet been held under the auspices of the Union. 



For the first time (excepting the Dublin Conference of 1901, 

 which was entirely a town meeting) the Union met in the 

 home of one of its constituent clubs. Members of the Cork 

 Naturalists' Field Club furnished valuable aid in the arrange- 

 ments for the Conference, and took part in the meetings and 

 excursions ; and it is to be hoped that the stimulus caused 03^ 

 the meeting may aid natural history work in the south. 



THURSDAY; JlJI<Y II. 



The Belfast party, to the number of about 30, were the first 

 to start for Cork, leaving Great Victoria Street at 7.30, and 

 they accomplished a record run to Cork of seven hours and 

 ten minutes. Arriving at Amiens Street at 10.37, they were 

 met by the Conductor (Mr. Praeger) and hurried across to a 

 special train in waiting, which, running round the loop-line, 

 drew up in front of the big engine of the Killarney express at 

 Kingsbridge one minute before starting time. Two minutes 

 later the whistle sounded, and before greetings with the 

 Dublin contingent had been exchanged in the corridor 

 carriage reserved for the party, Cloudalkin and its round 



