1896.] 209 



THE BELFAST CLUB AND ITS WORK. 



Annual Report and Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalists' 

 Field Glut) for the Year ending^ 3Ist lYIarch, 1896. Belfast : 

 Printed for the Club, 1896. 

 This, the narrative of the thirty-third year's work of the Belfast Field 

 Club, has just been issued. It occupies sixty-six octavo pages, and fur- 

 nishes interesting reading. From the annual report, we learn that " the 

 creation of an entrance fee has acted as desired in keeping the member- 

 ship of the Club wdthin working bounds." As a matter of fact, it has had 

 the effect of reducing the membership (which had been steadilj' rising 

 lor many years) from 516 to 480 — a result certainly not to be deplored, 

 for, as we took occasion to remark last year, one of the weaknesses of 

 this Society was the strength of its membership. The report contains 

 several items which give evidence of the activity and width of scope of 

 the Club's work. Thus, the Geologists' Association, London, and the 

 Home Reading Union, had, during their visits to the North of Ireland, 

 the hearty co-operation of the local Society, and this means a great deal 

 where long excursions, often to somewhat inaccessible regions, are the 

 order of the day. A hard week's work in geology was carried out under 

 Professor Cole, each day being devoted to field work, each evening to prac- 

 tical petrography. The Celtic Class has nowforsaken the sheltering wing 

 of the Club, and has started an independent existence as the Belfast Gaelic 

 League. Nineteen pages are devoted to an account of the excursions 

 of the year. These appear to have been uniformly successful, and we are 

 glad to note at least a slight improvement on last year in the way of 

 scientific results. The next fourteen pages go to the winter meetings, 

 and brief, very brief, abstracts of the papers brought forward. Then 

 follow reports from the Secretaries of the Microscopical, Geological, and 

 Botanical Sections. The Geological Section has again a good deal to 

 show for its year's work, and here, indeed, the energy of the Club appears 

 to be centred. Glacial geology occupies the chief place, and if the listing 

 of erratics, examination of boulder-clays, and general examination of the 

 district is continued systematically, the results cannot fail to throw much 

 light on the Glacial Period in the North-east of Ireland. The " Pro- 

 ceedings " are neatly printed on good paper, but we regret to notice not 

 unfrequent misprints — surely the Committee might avoid such a disfigure- 

 ment of their publications. The volume is swelled by an 80- page appendix 

 — '' A Bibliography of Irish Glacial and Post-Glacial Geology " — which 

 will be noticed in our next number. 



R. Li,- p. 



