Iviii PEOCEEDINGS, 



102 American. This total of 410 includes a few Protozoa, 

 a sponge, two hydras, a few worms, one mollusc, several crustaceans 

 and myriapods, numerous arachnids, and a host of Coleoptera, the 

 other insects being chiefly Thysanura. The vertebrates are limited 

 to four American fishes and one European batrachitm, the celebrated 

 Proteus anguhieus.''^ The well-fauna of England and Ireland includes 

 four species of amphipods ; Tinea tistella has been found in a disused 

 coal-mine near Glasgow ; and a copepod has been described from 

 a Northumbrian coal-mine. The distribution of tlie well-shrimp 

 {Niphargus) is known for the neighbourhood of Dublin and for the 

 ■whole south of England from Devonshire to Kent. It may be 

 added that it occurs in wells in Hertfordshire. 



Eeferring to the theory that at one time the globe was overspread 

 with a blind fauna, the remnants of which have been preseiwed in 

 deep waters and dark holes, whither creatures endowed with sight 

 have as a rule not cared to follow them, Mr. Stebbing said that 

 it would be interesting to know how that theory explains the 

 possession of eye- stalks by a sightless prawn. 



In conclusion Mr. Stebbing said : '' It will indeed be extra- 

 ordinary if the caverns and springs and artesian borings in Great 

 Britain and Ireland do not yield, to a united effort of investigation, 

 a fauna iu some degree comparable in interest with that which, 

 under similar circumstances, has been and is being found in other 

 parts of the globe. It will be extraordinary if the research, 

 whatever its direct results, does not stimulate, in many of those 

 who pursue it, highly pleasurable and profitable activities both of 

 body and mind. At the worst, if the old proverb may be trusted, 

 while groping for creatures at the bottom of a well, you will 

 always have the chance of combining two enjoyments, fishing for 

 amphipods and finding Truth." 



A discussion ensued, and Mr. Stebbing, in reply to a question as 

 to the best way of catching the well-shrimp, said that it was best 

 to wait until the well was almost empty, and then to let down 

 a bucket and withdraw it as quickly^ as possible, lest the creatures, 

 being scared, should have time to get away. Sometimes well- 

 shrimps were brought up when pumping was going on. 



Second Meeting. 



The meeting opened with a debate on the organization and 

 development of the local Societies, and as to how the meetings 

 of the Conference could be made most useful to the Societies 

 represented. 



The National Trust. — Mr. Hugh Blakiston, Secretary of the 

 National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, 

 read a paper on the aims and work of the Trust. He remarked that 

 the National Trust was incorporated in 1894 as a Limited Liability 

 Company " to promote the permanent preservation, for the benefit 

 of the nation, of lands and tenements (including buildings) of beauty 

 or historic interest ; and, as regards lands, to preserve (so far as 

 practicable) their natural aspect, features, and animal- and plant- 



