A nnual Meetings. 2 o i 



house had made himself obnoxious to the law, but in 

 such a way, whatever it was, that he could only be 

 reached by the unfortunate botanists being made the 

 scape-goat.* The ale is not forgotten, nor would it be 

 wisely forgotten if it were. Water is good, but so, in 

 their season, are good wine and good ale. "My speci- 

 mens," once said old Crowther, in his quaint, quiet way, 

 when nearly eighty years had silvered his hair, his eyes 

 twinkling as he spoke, "my specimens always look best 

 through a glass !" Capital botanical libraries are pos- 

 sessed by the societies at Todmorden, Ashton, Oldham, 

 Miles Platting, Prestwich, and Boothstown. Several of 

 the societies also possess herbariums. The Prestwich 

 collection, which fills nearly one hundred and sixty 

 volumes, contains a beautiful series of specimens prepared 

 by the celebrated Mr. Shepherd, once curator of the 

 Liverpool Botanic Garden. Many of the members 

 further amuse themselves by cultivating curious plants, 

 the roots of which have been chiefly obtained by making 

 excursions, for the special purpose, into North Wales, the 

 Lake district, and the more romantic parts of Derbyshire 

 and Yorkshire. 



Once a year, on a Sunday fixed as near the height of 

 the flower season as possible, there is an extra grand 

 meeting, when deputations from all the societies in the 

 neighbourhood make a point of attending. That of 1858 

 was held on the nth of August at the "Golden Lion," 



* See the account of the conviction in the Manchester Guardian, 

 of November 3oth, 1850. 



