12 



recreation," and the gulf which separates such cohectors from 

 the much-despised maker of ornamental wall-cases is not a 

 very wide one. I would emphatically urge upon those about 

 to take up the scientific study of natural history from the very 

 necessary beginning of making and arranging a collection — 

 eradicate from your disposition the desire of possessing " fine 

 series ;" let the cacoethes carpendi once take possession of you 

 and your career as a scientific biologist is doomed. We shall 

 hope that the taste for collecting which may be engendered in 

 the county by the foundation of this Field Club w^ill, as en- 

 forced in our rules, be exercised judiciously and moderately . 

 In the case of insects, excepting of course in species of great 

 variabihty, some three or four, or at most half-a-dozen, speci- 

 mens are amply sufficient for all purposes of study. There 

 are many who have assisted in the wholesale extermination 

 of some species almost extinct for the mere gratification of 

 possessing a " finer series" than their neighbours ; such collec- 

 tors are guilty of nothing less than a biological crime as heinous 

 in the eyes of the naturalist as would be the destruction of 

 some '' ancient monument" in the opinion of the archaeologist. 

 In the course of time and as our Society continues to 

 flourish — as it surely will if it only fulfils the promises of its 

 early youth — we shall hope to establish permanent collections 

 in a museum, and any specimens which our members may 

 like to contribute for furnishing the nucleus of such a public 

 collection will at any time be thankfully received. During 

 the first years of our existence, when our funds will be neces- 

 sarily limited, we shall of course be unable without external 

 aid to establish anything in the way of a Natural History 

 Museum that would be at all worthy of the County Club— the 

 growth of such an institution will be a work of time ; but in 

 order to accelerate matters I would suggest that a " Museum 

 Fund " be started among our members, and that our Treasurer 

 should keep a separate account of such donations, which would 

 be allowed to accumulate, and from time to time increased by 

 such sums from our general income as the Council might 

 think proper to devote to this object, until a sufiicient amount 

 is obtained to warrant our fixiniJ upon some place for our 

 permanent head-quarters, 



