March, 1896.] 5y 



THE MINGLING OF THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH. 



BY GEORGK H. CARPKNTER, B.SC. 



(Presidential Address to Dublin Naturalists' Field Club, Dec. loth, 1895), 



The last few years have been noteworthy in the annals of 

 natural science in Ireland. Signs of renewed interest among^ 

 the people in the studies which we hold dear, and the steady 

 progress of zoological, botanical, and geological research in 

 the country have combined to cheer us ; though we feel deeply 

 how much more of this western land of scientific promise still 

 remains to be possessed. But the one feature which helps to 

 make the last two years memorable, is the realisation of fellow- 

 ship among our workers in different parts of the country which 

 has culminated in the establishment of the Irish Field Club 

 Union. It is a hopeful sign that the differences, which in 

 Ireland array province against province and race against race, 

 have no power to hinder the mingling of the naturalists of 

 the north with their brethren of the south. Mr. Praeger's 

 series of papers on the Irish Field Clubs^ taught those societies 

 each other's histories, and in his concluding remarks he pre- 

 saged the foundation of the Union which this year has seen 

 accomplished. In his history of our own Club, he reminded 

 us how on several occasions we had enjoyed the privilege of 

 a joint excursion with our elder sister of Belfast. Last year^, 

 however, saw not only a most successful reunion of these two 

 Clubs (and of a contingent of the North Staffordshire Club) at 

 Drogheda, but a highly satisfactory gathering of the Dublin, 

 Cork, and Limerick Clubs at Fermoy, where the Union was 

 first proposed. During last winter, the Committees of all four 

 Irish Clubs definitely constituted it by each appointing its 

 President and Secretary to serve on a central Committee ; and 

 this year^ has seen the first conference of the federated Clubs 

 held at Galway, the meeting being rich both in edifying dis- 

 cussion and good practical work in the field. The pleasure 

 and profit of the gathering were enhanced by the presence 

 of many naturalists from England. How heartily they joined 

 with us in exploring the natural treasures of the far west, and 

 what results followed from the united labours of our harmo- 



^ Irish Naiiiralist, vol. iii., 1894. ^ 1894. 3 1895. 



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