INTRODUCTION. 
Durine the past three or four years suggestions had often been made 
that a Natural Science Society should be formed at Haileybury ; it was 
not, however, till the end of 1872 that these suggestions led to any 
practical result. In the Haileyburian of October 22nd, 1872, appeared 
an anonymous letter strongly urging that such a Society should be es- 
tablished, and to the writer of that letter the thanks of all are due. 
Shortly after, a preliminary meeting was held, and a Haileybury Natural 
Science Society was formed, which has since held regular meetings. 
A study of the minutes of the Society will show that papers on various 
subjects have been read, and that various objects have been exhibited. 
It may be well here to impress upon members of the Society the ad- 
vantage of short papers upon simple subjects: perhaps there has been a 
tendency to try to cover too much ground in a paper, thus rendering it 
difficult for anyone to carry away much of what he has heard. 
The arrangementsejust made for holding extra meetings for the 
exhibition of specimens will, it is hoped, be successful. Members cannot 
be too strongly urged to exhibit even the simplest specimens : more may 
often be learnt by seeing a thing for two or three minutes than by reading 
about it for an hour. 
The different lists published will give some slight idea of what may be 
found in our neighbourhood. None of them can, of course, be expected — 
to be perfect ; but we may hope, in the course of a few years, to make 
them nearly so. With a view of securing greater organization, it will be 
proposed, next term, to form sections of the Society for different branches 
of Natural History : Entomological and Botanical sections, with an ex- 
perienced member at the head of each, would soon prove valuable. 
The Council have liberally granted money for the erection of fresh 
eases in the Museum : part of these will be given to our Society, so that 
we may soon hope to arrange what has been already collected for the local 
Museum. F. Popmors has presented to the Society a collection of 
Flowers, and 8. 0. Rrpxy one of Coleoptera : both these collections have 
won the Cornthwaite Prize. And here we may gratefully record our 
sense of the encouragement given to the pursuit of Natural History by 
this prize, and also by that given by the Master for collections made 
during the summer holidays. 
