M. C. COOKE ON EARLY MEMORIES OP THE Q.M.C. 235 



holding its meetings on the fourth Friday in the month at the 

 rooms in Sackville Street, with its offices, for some years, for 

 letters and correspondence, at 192, Piccadilly, 



Yery little was seen afterwards of the proposer of the Club,. 

 Mr. W. Gibson, who attended a few meetings and then subsided 

 into oblivion. 



The social phase of the Club was realised in the '"gossip" 

 nights, in the fortnightly excursions, in the occasional soirees, and 

 in the annual excursion and dinner at Leatherhead. During later 

 years, with the abolition of dinners and soirees, much of the 

 genial, social life of the Club has been lost. 



As to the periodical excursions some little explanation may 

 be necessary. For some years previous to 1865 there was in 

 existence a small society, called the Society of Amateur Botanists, 

 which I was chiefly instrumental in founding, and which met 

 once a month for the reading of papers and discussions on 

 botanical subjects, but which was chiefly characterised by fort- 

 nightly excursions into the country during the summer months, 

 for collecting plants, and for a cosy tea afterwards. As far as 

 I am aware, this was the only instance, at that period of time, 

 in which any periodical excursions were made by any society in or 

 around London. Of couise, as the president and conductor of these 

 excursions, I gained so much experience that I was able to initiate 

 similar excursions for the Q.M.C, and thus they were organised 

 in the first instance on the model of the excursions of the Society of 

 Amateur Botanists. The members of the latter Society, or many 

 of them, joined the Q.M.C, and always declared that the newer 

 and larger Society with a wider programme had extinguished 

 them. At any rate, such members as Mr. W. W. Reeves and 

 Mr. Ruffle, who came from the Amateur Botanists to the Q.M.C, 

 were distinguished for their help in organising similar excursions 

 for the latter. 



It is interesting to trace the evolution of one chain of events 

 from another, as exemplified in this short history. In the later 

 years of the fifties I conducted Botanical classes under the Science 

 and Art Department, of which I was the first certified teacher 

 under the Minutes. In order to give them a little practical 

 demonstration, I sometimes took the pupils for country rambles 

 in search of wild flowers. Subsequently some of these old pupils, 

 who were joined by outsiders, constituted themselves into a little 



JouRN. Q. M. C, Series II.— No. 45. 17 



