1900-1901, | Nature Study. 249 
to some extent, field exoursions would promote culture much 
more than they do, A field naturalist excursion is not merely 
—& pleasant country ramble, an interesting gossip wound up with 
a sociable and refreshing tea, These may be concomitants ; 
the essential is to get some new impressions—a few fresh ideas 
about natural things; and there are few walks through the 
woods, or along the shore, or on the mountains from which the 
receptive field naturalist does not bring home some new 
thoughts—partioularly if the company be small and of kindred 
spirits, Unless these natural history prizes lead to co-opera- 
tion such as I have indicated, they will be a failure, They are 
& minute form of endowment of research of which we hear so 
much at present, Research to discover new truths cannot 
be overestimated, and yot it has a dark side—the search for 
endowment, That evil we need not fear, This leads me to 
say a word about original work in societies like this, In such 
‘sooietics really original work plays a very subordinate dle, 
and if we look at our ‘Transactions’ T do not think that this 
society compares unfavourably with its neighbours, In Edin. 
burgh, several old and chartered societies exist. The Royal 
Physical, for example, virtually a natural history society, was 
sstablished long ago in the ancien régime, when Linnwus and 
Buffon were still alive, The Botanical Society took its rise 
also in the ancien régime of botanical science, when botanists 
till studied nature out of doors, and before laboratory methods 
nd stains had banished from among us the spirit of nature 
‘study, Thon there is the Geological Society, the youngest of 
the three, and the one which has apparently best fulfilled the 
promises of its youth in cultivating nature study the moat: 
possibly that is due to its being less academic than the others, 
n acity where such societies exist, naturally and properly any 
a) ginal papers will be attracted to them, Besides, we do not 
desire in any way to be a competitor with these societios, If 
Tmistake not, we had our origin in a desire not to compete 
With them, but to supplement them,—to do what they could 
not well undertake, This Society was originally a field club: 
it had no winter meetings; it was intended to make the 
work of the older societios more practical, to make excursions, 
md so bring the members of these societies more into living 
oh with the things which they talked about at their winter 
