Gliflon College Scientific Society. 17 



all are recognised here ; and each one of these sciences might be 

 again connected with sundry others which could not be said tf> 

 be foreign to our scope and aims. What an immense field is this 

 for the intellect to rove over ! Surely you could not find any 

 sensible boy who does not take an interest in some one of these 

 many means of delight ! I know of those here who are fond of 

 bringing together the eggs of our British birds, sparing no pains 

 and running any risk to obtain a coveted specimen. I know of 

 those whose tastes lead them to observe and appreciate the re- 

 semblances and differences between the many forms of beauty in 

 which jDlant life appears ; and of others who are enthiisiastic lovers 

 of insects. Few boys, again, can help taking interest in chemical 

 and physical experiments ; and though no doubt many witness 

 them simply as they would a firework exhibition, and give their 

 loudest applause at the most striking effect and the loudest report, 

 there is still something so attractive in investigation and analysis, 

 that few can begin them without being allured into making them 

 a subject of real and delightful study. What chai'ms have the 

 wonders of geology for the observant eye ! and where are better 

 opportunities afforded for tracing the silent record of the rocks 

 than at Clifton, with its magnificent river section, and beds teem- 

 ing with fossils? Lastly, I feel sure that, among the many 

 students of history, ancient and modern, that a great school like 

 this always possesses, a large number will be found to feel an 

 interest in those relics of the works of man in bygone ages which 

 the hand of time has still spared to us ; who will, in fact, take 

 pleasure in the study of historical architecture and numismatics, 

 and will see in each old carved stone, in each half-effaced coin, 

 the imprint of a hand now mouldering in its kindred dust, and 

 the evidence of the skill of man as well as the certainty of his 

 dissolution. 



Amongst this large range of pursuits some one, at least, is sure 

 to commend itself to every boy in this room, and here he can, if 

 he chooses, pursue his favourite study with advantage to himself 

 and his fellow-members. We have, as yon are aware, founded 

 seven Sections in the Society, for the more careful study of Botany, 

 Zoology, Geology, Entomology, Physics, Chemistry, and Antiqui- 

 ties. You will be called on this evening to say whether or not 

 you are disposed to enter one of these Sections ; and I hope that 

 those who want to do real work as members of a scientific body 

 will not only enrol their names, but exercise their industry and 

 ingenuity in advancing the cause of the particidar branch which 

 they may favour. The Directors of the Sections have a weighty 

 responsibility on them for the duties they have undertaken. 

 Those of them who are as yet but tyros (are we not in science all 



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