cx KINGS COUNTY BRANCH OF THE INSTITUTE.—HAYCOCK. 
results of original investigation by its members, and the presentation 
and discussion of papers on contemporary discoveries in science, or on 
gcientific subjects pertinent to our especial needs. The former will 
suggest methods and point the way to exploration of the unknown ; 
the latter will aid in furnishing the basis of knowledge necessary to 
fruitful investigation. 
Although an arduous preparation is absolutely necessary for work 
of the above character in many branches of science, yet in many more 
departments of scientific study anyone with a love for truth and an 
honest interest in the world about him, whether he be young or old, 
whether he has or has not had a scientific training, may make contri- 
butions to the sum of human knowledge. These departments lie 
mainly within the domain of what are known as the Natural Sciences, 
and in them we hope to achieve our best results. The distinct aim of 
the society should be, in my judgment, to explore the natural history 
of Kings County, and in order to train workers for that purpose, to 
disseminate knowledge of the natural sciences in the widest possible 
way. ‘ 
In designating this as the work of the society, we assign a field that 
lies all about us, that has scarcely been touched by the investigator, 
and in which the maximum results can be secured with the minimum 
amount of preparation. A few hours reading would put one in pos- 
session of all the facts that have as yet been recorded in regard to the 
geology of the county. A smaller number of hours would enable one 
to read the mineralogical record. I know of but one paper on the 
microscopic study of a Kings County rock, and this new science of 
petrography offers to one who is willing to make the necessary pre- 
paration, an outlook that is very fascinating. An admirable begin- 
ning in the zoology of the county has been made by Mr. Harold Tufts, 
who has published a list of 250 birds that occur within its borders. 
This list is without doubt still incomplete,, and further, every bird 
enumerated should be on exhibition either in a public county museum 
or in a private collection, in order that the correctness of the identifi- 
cations might be verified at any time. Similar work in the land 
animals, the marine vertebrates and invertebrates, is waiting to be 
done, and the collection of all the known insects of the county and the 
study of their metamorphoses and habits, is a work not only of scien- 
tific interest, but likely to prove of untold value to the fruit growers 
