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ANNUAL MEETING—GENERAL BUSINESS. 167 
had been referred to by the President, he might observe that all of them 
found in those studies their own sufficient reward, and he believed that 
in the heat and pressure and bustle of this modern life such studies were 
amongst the most reinvigorating and ennobling influences that could be 
brought to bear upon themselves and the society in which they moved. 
The Rey. J. E. Vize seconded the motion, which was carried by 
acclamation, and briefly acknowledged by the Presipenr, who, in so 
doing, referred to the able and beneficial work which Mr. Vize, as a 
microscopist and a studeiit of fungi, had lately done in his examination 
into the origin and precise nature of the diséase known as diphtheria. 
The following Report of the Council was then read by Mr. W. Jznome 
Hargison :-— 
At the first Annual Meeting of the members of the Union, 
held last year at Birmingham, the report of the Council included a 
general account of the origin and progress of the movement to that 
date. With regard to its origin, we may briefly recapitulate that the 
idea of a combination of the Scientific and Literary Societies of the 
Midland district was one which had occurred to many minds in matiy 
quarters, but that the actual commencement and practical inauguration 
of the work are due to the members of the Birmingham Natural History 
and Microscopical Society, who invited the other Societies of the 
Midlands to send delegates to a meeting, which was held in Birmingham 
on August 28th, 1877, at which the scheme was duly discussed, a council 
or governing body elected, and the Union constituted. 
The first Annual Meeting of the new Union of Natural History 
Societies was held in Birmingham on Monday, May 27th, 1878. The 
attendance was numerous, and all the arrangements were prepared and 
carried out with great precision and success, under the direction of a 
committee appointed by the local scientific societies, and by Mr. H. W. 
Badger, upon whom, as the resident hon. sec. of the Union, there fell 
a great portion of the work. The excursion on the second day, Wed- 
nesday, May 28th, attracted a large attendance, and the arrangements 
for this were ‘well carried out by the officers of the Dudley and 
Midland Geological and Scientific Society. 
Of the present—the second Annual Meeting—it is as yet too early 
to speak. The winter has unfortunately been a very severe and 
prolonged one, and instead of the “sunny hours” which should 
characterise ‘‘ flowery May,” we have louring skies with cold east winds 
and rain, which cannot but have a detrimental effect upon the numbers 
attending from a distance. The Council desire, however, to record their 
recognition and appreciation of the earnest and thorough manner in 
which the Literary and Philosophical Society of Leicester has engaged 
in the arduous task of preparing for the accommodation, entertainment, 
and instruction of the many people of many tastes who are here met 
together. The Scientific Conversazione to be held this evening in the 
Museum Buildings isa new form of entertainment in Leicester, and the 
Council earnestly hopes that it may to some extent forward an appreciation 
of, and a liking for, scientific pursuits among the busy workers in this 
populous and flourishing town. To-morrow’s excursion to Charnwood 
Forest only requires fine weather to prove most enjoyable, and also for 
those who have not previously visited that region, surprising in the 
character of its rocks and scenery. Leicester is to be congratulated on 
the vicinity of so splendid a field for the exertions of workers in natural 
science ; if our grandfathers could have foreseen the spread of a love for 
the study of nature among all classes, and have foreseen too the great 
increase in the population of this country, we may think that instead of 
