PREFACE. 



'hen the Brilisli Association met at Belfast in 

 1S74, a (luide was prepared for the occasion 

 by the IkMfast NaturaHsts' Field Club, describing 

 and illustrating the history, trade, agriculture, 

 geology, botany, zoology, and archaeology of Belfast and 

 the adjacent counties of Down and Antrim. This work 

 was the first of the "Handbooks" which are now con- 

 sidered an indispensable adjunct to the Association's 

 meetings. The 1874 "Guide" long remained a standard 

 work of reference on the district, and lately it has gone 

 out of print. 



The present " Guide " has the same origin as its pre- 

 decessor, and follows the same general lines. It has been 

 written by members of the Belfast Field Club, with the 

 co-operation, in certain subjects, of fellow-workers outside 

 the Club, whose assistance is gratefully acknowledged : — 

 of Dr. R. F. Scharff, A. R. Nichols, G. H. Carpenter, and 

 J. N. Halbert, all of the National Museum in Dublin, in 

 the department of Zoology ; and of H. J. Seymour, of 

 H.M. Geological Survey, in the department of Geology. 



The authorship of the various sections is as follows : — 

 Belfast, John Vinycomb and Alec Wilson ; Geology, 

 J. St. J. Phillips ; Botany, Henry Hanna, R. Lloyd Praeger, 

 and Rev. C. H. Waddell ; Zoology, G. H. Carpenter, J. N. 

 Halbert, Rev. W. F. Johnson, A. R. Nichols, H. Lamont 

 Orr, Robert Patterson, R. Lloyd Praeger, R. F. Scharff, 

 R. Welch, Joseph Wright ; Antiquities, Francis Joseph 

 Bigger and William J. Fennell. 



The general editing of the " Guide " has been done by 

 Francis Joseph Bigger, editor of the Ulster Journal of 

 ArchcEology; R. Lloyd Praeger, editor of the Irish Naturalist] 

 and John Vinycomb. 



Belfast, 



September, 1902. 



209098fi 



