Proceedings. vii 



might join other societies in their excursions more than we do 

 at present ; it would tend to help our members especially in 

 the study of pond-life, as I know so many of the members of 

 the South London and the Quekett Clubs who are so well up in 

 this particular branch. 



The conversational meetings, your Committee regret to report, 

 have not been so well attended as might have been anticipated. 

 Whether this is owing to the want of a better room, or that the 

 benefits of these meetings have not been sufficiently impressed 

 on the minds of the members, I do not know : there is no doubt 

 that from these meetings the members generally may, if they 

 work well together, derive most important advantages. It has 

 been suggested by Mr. Lovett that, if some of our members 

 would come forward and undertake each to occupy an evening 

 in working out any particular subject in connection with the 

 work of our Club (such work not interfering with our regular 

 meetings or papers), it would be of great advantage to us all. 

 I am sure your Committee will at all times be glad to receive the 

 names of any members who may be willing to take an evening 

 for such a purpose. I may here suggest that the examination of 

 articles of food, fabrics, sections of various woods, silk, jute, 

 hairs of animals, scales of insects, would all be useful subjects, 

 and if slides of such things were well mounted and a collection 

 of them formed for our cabinet, properly labelled, and describing 

 the real from the unreal, a great deal of valuable information 

 might be collected, not merely useful to the Club, but for others 

 outside the Club, who might wish to refer to them for informa- 

 tion. This would make the Club not merely useful to itself, 

 but to mankind in general. The microscope, we all know, is 

 frequently used in the detection of crime and adulteration of 

 food and fabrics, in examining crystals, and in the examination 

 of the scales of butterflies to determine their sex, and in many 

 other ways in connection with manufacture and Natm-al History. 

 I well remember our mutual friend Henry Lee mentioning to me 

 that he had once sent to him for examination three or four fine 

 hairs, with a request that he would very carefully examine 

 them, and, if possible, determine to what animal they belonged, 

 as a question of great importance depended on the result of his 

 examination. Mr. Lee understood the task, and carefully 

 examined these hairs, and found they belonged to the common 

 hare [Lepus timidiis). Now it so happened that a poacher, who 

 had a spite against a keeper, informed the keeper's master that 

 he (the poacher) had seen the keeper take a fox out of a trap 

 and kill it with his clasp-knife. The clasp-knife was examined, 

 and there were certainly some brown hairs adliering to it ; and 

 these were the hairs submitted to Mr. Lee for examination. 

 Now you see, Gentlemen, that had it not been for the use of the 



