September. 1896. OUR LOCAL SOCIETIES. 169 



branches of science maybe done by isolated students ; but among the 

 chief functions of local societies would seem to be (i) the education of 

 a neighbourhood to some appreciation of science; (ii) the encourage- 

 ment of beginners or of diffident and otherwise isolated students by 

 the stimulus of rivalry, discussion, or co-operation ; and (iii) the 

 corporate record of local observations undertaken perhaps by many 

 members. As a good illustration of this last function, the twenty 

 years' record of the Marlborough College Natural History Society 

 in botany, ornithology, entomology, and meteorology, or rather 

 in meteorology and in the phenology of plants, birds and insects, may 

 be instanced. Though contributed to by many (by many genera- 

 tions, we may say, in a scholastic sense), we owe this valuable scheme 

 in its entirety to the Rev. T. A. Preston. 



Whilst it is educationally desirable that at least every considerable 

 town should have its local society, one of the first necessities of the 

 case, if such societies are to contribute to the real advancement of 

 science, would seem to be the precise demarcation of the area over 

 which the systematic observations of each society are to extend. If 

 not absolutely necessary for each town or village society, when these 

 small bodies do not publish, this topographical position is essential in 

 the case of every county club or larger district association. The ideal 

 at which we should aim in this matter is the partitioning of the whole 

 kingdom between various societies. Rutland, Huntingdon, ^lonmouth, 

 and Westmoreland seem to be the only counties in England at present 

 without some natural history society ; but in many other counties 

 there is no body recognising the whole county as its area of study. 

 The county is, of course, by no means a scientifically ideal unit of 

 division, but it appears to be the most practical. For many of the 

 purposes of the natural history recorder the river-basin is far better ; 

 but if it is easier to arouse public interest and to ensure an esprit de 

 corps in a county than in a river-basin, it will generally be com- 

 paratively simple to distribute the county records under river-basins, 

 and so ultimately to secure, perhaps, a national census on the more 

 scientific basis. 



As has been pointed out elsewhere by the present writer {Science 

 Gossip, June, 1896), it would add a desirable precision to their 

 observations if every local society adopted a definite area of study ; 

 but, to avoid discontinuity in our records and useless duplication of 

 observation, this is far more essential for all publishing societies. 

 While for the sake of the facilities for winter evening meetings and 

 cheap short-distance field meetings it is desirable to multiply local 

 societies, it is not by any means necessary that they should all print 

 "Transactions," or in fact anything except, perhaps, an annual 

 report. Probably most of us who have had to hunt through local 

 " Transactions " will agree that one pubhshing society for natural 

 history in each county is amply sufficient. Here the example long 

 ago set by Yorkshire is most valuable. In May, 1864, the West 



