8 



the president had nothing to do upon the road, but remind his 

 companions of what they were to set down in the diary." 



" At night they all met together, the president then dictated 

 to the secretary the memoranda collected by each companion, in 

 a regular turn from the geographer to the steward ; and if he 

 happened to forget any remark, the companion to whose office 

 that part of the service belonged refreshed his memory. The 

 president was quite surprised at the readiness and diligence with 

 which his attendants discharged the duties of their respective 

 offices. In the short space of a few weeks, they appeared to him 

 as if they had been accustomed to it for whole years together,"* 



Such is the account left us of what may be called the Dalecar- 

 lian Field Naturalist's Club in the days of Linna?us. I have 

 given it in some detail from its being probably unknown to most 

 of my hearers. If our Club is not organised with the same 

 military precision, nor instituted for exactly the same purpose, 

 viz., that of exploring a new country in one continuous tour, still 

 the account may supply us with a few hints. At any rate, it is 

 not without interest to find this plan of enlisting a number of 

 men of congenial pursuits to co-operate in workiiig out the 

 natural history, &c., of a particular district, carried out no less 

 than 130 years back, at a time when the natural sciences were 

 generally in little favour, and when the few who studied them 

 were left almost entirely to their own individual resources — with 

 little help from others, especially in the field. 



To confine ourselves now to our own body; there are two 

 especial objects which a Club such as ours has, or ought to have, 

 in view. One is the thorough investigation of the neighbourhood 

 in which it carries on its researches, as regards its natural history 

 and antiquities ; the other the bringing together men of the same 

 pursuits, with the addition of those who — without following up 

 any particular branch of science themselves — may yet enjoy the 



* Stoever's Life of Sir Charles Linnaeus _: by Trapp, p. 395. 



