92 



may be formed and supported, and the usual routine of thinly attend- 

 ed meetings may take place. Some degree of good is thus effected, 

 although more in the way of diffusing a taste for the pursuit of Natu- 

 ral History than in really contributing to the progressive advance- 

 ment of science ; and the degree of good which is effected is found 

 to be rather costly if measured by the outlay to produce it. 



Such institutions cannot be formed in the smaller towns, on ac- 

 count of the scanty numbers of scientific supporters or subscribers 

 who would club together for this purpose. A substitute is attempted 

 in associations of members by counties, instead of by single towns. 

 A failure is the result ; very much because the originators or mana- 

 gers of the county societies unwisely endeavour to imitate the urban 

 associations in those which are intended for a vastly more extended 

 and thinly peopled area. A museum is attempted ; but as the mu- 

 seum must be in one place, while the members or might-be-members 

 are in many places, the attempt proves unsuccessful. A library is 

 commenced by a few donations of volumes, but makes little progress ; 

 the scattered habitats of the subscribers or members being almost 

 equally as unfavourable to a library as to a museum. Meetings to 

 hear papers read are also attempted, but as nobody comes to hear 

 them, beyond two or three of the office-bearers on the spot, meetings 

 and papers are very flat affairs. 



In short, county societies require to be instituted on plans quite 

 different from those suitable for large towns, and will fail as often as 

 they are made imitations of the urban associations. They should 

 rather be unions of scientific men for the purpose of combining their 

 local investigations into one common fund or contribution to science. 

 How valuable, for example, would be a series of published county 

 1 Natural Histories,' including the four departments of Meteorology, 

 Geology, Zoology and Botany, incorporating into one whole the lo- 

 cal investigations of all the resident naturalists of the county ! These 

 would be more useful to the naturalists of the county, both while in 

 course of preparation and also when completed, than are the abortive at- 

 tempts at museums, libraries and meeting-rooms, which are in vogue 

 at present. And their usefulness would extend far beyond the limits 

 of their county. Nor do we think they would prove expensive to the 

 parties by whose joint exertions they would be produced. If the ne- 

 cessary outlay should not be covered by the subscriptions of other 

 residents for copies, or by sales to the public, the deficiency would 

 be divided among several, and fall lightly on each. The ' Field 

 Clubs' may be considered as societies of an intermediate character, 



