INTRODUCTION. 



The formation of the Andersonian Naturalists' Society in the 

 spring of 1885 was due to Mr. William Cumming and other 

 students then attending the popular Botany class conducted by 

 the Rev. Alexander S. Wilson, M.A., B.Sc., in Anderson's 

 College, Glasgow, and the first members were chiefly drawn from 

 that class. The inaugural meeting was held on 25th August, 

 1885, when sixteen gentlemen were present, most of whom still 

 remain members of the Society. Mr. Wilson was elected 

 President, and Mr. Cumming Honorary Secretary : and their 

 successors in these offices have been Mr. Robert Turner 

 and Prof. Edward E. Prince, B.A., F.L.S., Presidents; and 

 Messrs. John Paterson, Robert Boyd, Hugh Boyd Watt, 

 Robert S. Houston, R. D. Wilkie, and Thomas B. Wilkie, 

 Honorary Secretaries. With the consent of the Governors, 

 arrangements were made to hold monthly meetings in Anderson's 

 College, and these meetings have been continued in the same 

 place under its changed name of Andersonian Buildings, Glasgow 

 and West of Scotland Technical College. 



From the first it was determined to aim at doing something to 

 popularise studies in natural science in Glasgow, and to carry 

 on the Society on practical lines within the resources and powers 

 of its own membership ; and while its early history was not one 

 of unvaried success, yet, since 1888 (when the question of its 

 continuation was seriously considered), there have been steady 

 progress and increase in membership. A strong feature all along 



