515 



Art. CXXIV, — Notice of the * Proceedings of the Berwickshire 

 Naturalists Club, for 1842.'* 



The perusal of this delightful summary of the proceedings of this 

 little band of naturalists during the late glorious summer, is enough 

 to make one " babble o' gi-een fields " even amidst the snow-covered 

 houses and streets of London on this present 18th of February, 1843. 

 There is that sparkling freshness in its details, slight though they be, 

 which nothing but an intimate acquaintance with the manifold beau- 

 ties of Nature can have imparted to them. But before we enter upon 

 the pleasing duty of giving our readers a brief analysis of the botani- 

 cal contents of this brochure, a few words on the nature and objects 

 of the club may not be unacceptable. 



From a notice in Loudon's ' Magazine of Natural History ' we learn 

 that " The Berwickshire Naturalists' Club was instituted in Septem- 

 ber, 1831, by some gentlemen who interested themselves in Natural 

 History, and were anxious to do their best to aid one another in their 

 pursuits, and to diffuse a taste for them among others. The club 

 meets four times in the year, and the place of its meeting is changed 

 every time, to afford the members an opportunity of examining in suc- 

 cession every part of the neighbourhood. The members meet early 

 in the morning; they spend the forenoon in excursions, and they again 

 assemble at dinner, after which any papers that may be laid before 

 them are read and discussed freely." — vi. 11. 



The first president was the eminent naturalist Dr. Johnston, author 

 of the ' Flora of Berwick,' who has taken the warmest interest in the 

 welfare of the club from its first establishment. The members held 

 their first anniversary meeting at Coldstream, on the 19th of Septem- 

 ber, 1831. The address now before us was read at Lowick, on the 

 28th of September, 1843, at the eleventh annual meeting; and exhi- 

 bits " the result of the labours, or rather the harvest reaped, not by 

 bodily fatigue, but yielded to the agreeable recreation and innocent 

 pastime of men happy to escape from the monotonous toil of their 

 necessary occupations, to i*evel in all the beauty of Nature's loveliest 

 scenes, and the thousand charms of her everchanging aspects, and to 

 have their feelings elevated, and their minds improved, by the calm 

 contemplation of the wonderful works of God." — Address, p. 1. 



The anniversary meeting for 1841 was held at Kelso; the details 



* We have ventured to give a title to this interesting publication : would it not be 

 w^U to print it on future wrappers ? 



