22 
OcroseR 8TH, 1889. 
The Winter Session was opened at the Lecture Hall of the 
Museum. The weather was very tempestuous so that there were 
only nineteen present, six of whom were ladies. 
On the table were collections of autumn fruits and a few flowers, 
which were described by Mr. Walton. The most interesting was a 
collection of fruits of some Crategi, brought by Mr. Billinghurst. 
In the absence of the President, who had been called away to 
Tunbridge Wells, but had forwarded a lecture, the chair was taken 
by Dr. T. Hastes, V.P., and the Secretary read the paper, which 
treated chiefly of museums and their management, and of mimicry. 
It was as follows :— 
The commencement of the winter session in these, our new 
premises, ought to inaugurate a fresh era in the existence of the 
Folkestone Natural History Society, and infuse new life into our 
veteran association. ‘Those should work who never worked 
before, and those who worked before should work the more.” Yes, 
work ; that is what our Society asks of its members. We want 
more papers read, more specimens exhibited. When any of you 
meet with a rare plant, flower, shell, or insect, you should possess 
yourself of it, and exhibit it at our next meeting. 
Or you may be fortunate enough to secure some specimen worthy 
of a place in our museum. [I cordially agree with the words of the 
President of the Museum Curators, Mr. Blanford, in his annual 
report that the most important object of a provincial museum 
should be to illustrate the natural history, antiquities, and produc- 
tions of the place and its immediate neighbourhood. 
I was much struck the other day, when reading Professor 
Flower’s admirable address at the British Association, with his 
account of the earliest collections in connection with natural science, 
and also with his excellent suggestions for the arrangement of the 
specimens 1n museums. He affirms that it was with the revival of 
learning in the middle ages that the collecting instinct came into 
existence, and that for some time the earliest collections were 
formed and maintained at the expense of private individuals. 
In England the two earliest collectors of miscellaneous objects 
were the two John Tradescants, father and son, the latter of whom 
published in 1656 a little work called ‘‘ Museum Tradescantianum.” 
The wonderful variety and incongruous grouping of the various 
objects in this collection make a most amusing catalogue. The 
account of this earliest collection is of interest to all lovers of 
natural science, inasmuch as it shews the marvellous advance 
scientific research has.-made in the two last centuries. 
Professor Flower points out that the objects of a museum should. 
be two-fold; one being to increase the knowledge of some given 
