Xliv PROCEEDINGS, 



the recommendation of the Committee, had authorized the issue, 

 to a,ll Corresponding Societies who send Delegates to the Annual 

 Conference, of a form of warrant certifying that such Societies 

 are recommended by the Council as suitalile applicants for any 

 privileged tickets which the Kailway Companies may grant. 

 The warrants can be obtained at the OflRce of the Association. 



The subjects selected for discussion at the present Conference 

 were " Meteorological Observations by Local Scientific Societies " 

 and the " Desirability of promoting County Photographic 

 Surveys." Both these subjects were suggested by your Delegate, 

 the first on behalf of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society 

 and the second on behalf of the Watford Camera Club. 



The Chairman, Sir Edward Brabrook, stated that this was the 

 first Conference at which Associated as well as Afiiliated Societies 

 were represented, and he anticipated great advantage from the 

 new departure, alike to the Societies which are here brought into 

 union and to the Association. 



In 1892, when these Conferences had been held for eight 

 years under the management of the Corresponding Societies 

 Committee, he required information as to what the local 

 Societies had done for anthropology, and he found from that 

 Committee's reports that thirty-three local Societies had been 

 engaged in valuable, original, anthropological work, and that at 

 least one hundred individuals had contributed anthropological 

 papers to their Societies. They occupied the whole country from 

 Penzance to Inverness and from Rochester to Belfast. 



Local work connected with three Sections of the Association, 

 (F) Economic Science, (H) Anthropology, and (L) Education, 

 was then dealt with, and it was shown that each of these 

 subjects should be studied in relation to local conditions ; thus 

 each locality had its own ancient monuments, past history, and 

 mixed population with special racial afiinities ; its own ancient 

 customs, folklore, dialect, and place-names ; and thus every 

 local Society was interested in working out its own anthropology. 

 So also should education be carried on with a view to the 

 requirements of each locality, boys in a seaport town being 

 taught seamanship, in a business town bookkeeping, in a manu- 

 facturing town mechanics, and in an agricultiu'al district 

 chemistry. And to attain tliis the best educational authorities 

 would be found among the scientific men of the locality. 



The Chairman then said that in afliliation and association of 

 local Societies the sinking of their individual character was not 

 included, but there was much which this Conference could do 

 within its legitimate province, and he concluded his Address as 

 follows : — " In the free communication with each other which is 

 here set up, in the discussion of methods of working, in pointing 

 out special subjects in which definite and organized investigation 

 is desirable, in learning what has been done by such and such 

 a Society so as to avoid wasteful duplication and repetition of 

 work, there is ample material for conference. In the excellent 



