46 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



line we do work no other Victorian society can do. But there 

 are departments of natural science which it is not advisable for 

 us to deal with — branches which require much preliminary train- 

 ing and study to master, and in some of these branches many of 

 our members, who first devoted their attention to science in our 

 ranks, are now recognized authorities. Our society cannot 

 afford to publish their work, and this not only in a monetary 

 sense, but in a still more vital one for the Club's existence, for 

 long papers on subjects in which but two or three members have 

 any personal interest would soon make the Victorian Naturalist 

 so change its character as to be valueless to those for whom the 

 Club was founded, and they would again become ' sheep without 

 a shepherd.' 



" If I point out where I think no change in the methods of the 

 Club is advisable, I may as well indicate a direction in which I 

 think improvement is possible, and in this I know that many of 

 the members of the Club are with me. At every meeting exhibits 

 are brought forward and laid on the table, and the secretary 

 reads out a list of what is on view. Now, I think that we should 

 devote more attention to this branch of our work, and with this 

 aim the committee some time ago decided that no fresh business 

 should be brought on after a quarter past nine, in order that 

 more time should be available for those present to examine and 

 chat over the specimens. When this alteration was made 

 members were asked to supply a note on their exhibits for in- 

 clusion in the Naturalist. There are, of course, instances in 

 which such a note is unnecessary, for we do not want merely to 

 pad out our publication with needless paragraphs ; but there are 

 many instances where a few lines would be advisable, and under 

 the present method a record is apt to be lost. It is here that I 

 would earnestly advocate a change in our procedure. Our list 

 of exhibits might well take up more space in the Naturalist than 

 it does at present. There is, of course, one class of note that 

 the Club would not accept, and that is the description of new 

 species under the guise of a natural history note. A new species 

 is too important a matter to be treated in an off-hand manner on 

 the spur of the moment, and should be handled in the recognized 

 way. If we have a series of short paragraphs of this kind, each 

 with its appropriate heading, it will be possible to notice in the 

 index to the volume much that now is passed over. One member 

 of the committee has suggested that all the exhibits should be 

 indexed, and there is no doubt that there is a good deal to be 

 said in favour of the suggestion. Personally I know an adoption 

 of the plan would frequently have saved me from a great loss of 

 time in hunting a record which I knew was hidden away some- 

 where in the depths. 



" Still, to index every exhibit is, I think, scarcely necessary. 

 The more important should be paragraphed and then indexed 



