24 SOCIOLOGY. 



Here at our meetings, irrespective of class distinction, the professional 

 man, the merchant, the manufacturer, the clerk, and the working- 

 man gather together on common ground — that common ground being 

 the study of Nature. There is no distinction, either of politics or of 

 religion, or even of sex! I well remember the time when, except 

 among the medical profession, a microscope was a rarity in the town, 

 and now at the Annual Conversaziones of this Society alone we can 

 number a hundred ! 



The growth and development of our Society has been remarkable. 

 Originally consisting of a few enthusiastic naturalists, who met in a 

 small back room m the Midland Institute — by the courtesy of the Council 

 of that body — it now numbers nearly four hundred members, and has 

 acc^uired a distinction of which we may be justly proud. The annual 

 contribution to its funds is almost nominal, but by united eiforts our 

 Library numbers on its shelves the most important works in Natural 

 History and Microscopy. Our Microscopes are of the best that can be 

 acquired. By our exertions tlie Midland Union of Natural History 

 Societies was established in 1878, comprising nearly thirty local Societies 

 within a radius of sixty miles, and an aggregate of 2,500 members, 

 having a Journal of its own — " The Midland Naturalist." The annual 

 gatherings in neighbauring towns have been highly successful, and the 

 foundation of the " Darwin Medal " — in honour of the distinguished 

 Naturalist who favoured our Society by accepting the office of an 

 Honorary Vice-President, given annually for the best original Essay or 

 Paper in Biology, Geology, or Arcateology — is a noteworthy feature. 

 The last medal was awarded to two of our Members, Professor A. Milnes 

 Marshall, D.Sc, and Mr. W. P. Marshall, M.I.C.E., for researches on 

 the PeiinatuUdn (Sea Pens, etc.) obtained at Oban during the Dredging 

 Excursion of 1881. And here I should like to remark that we are 

 proud to have reckoned among the early Members of our Society 

 Mr. Grant Allen, who has since risen to fame as an evolutionist. 

 On all these grounds I submit that our Society is a Sociological 

 factor of importance, that its influence acts and interacts, and that 

 the establishment of a Sociological Section as part of its organization 

 is a step in the right direction. 



The highly suggestive and valuable letter with which Mr. Herbert 

 Spencer has favoured us makes it almost presumption in me to offer 

 any suggestion as to the work of the Section, but reverting for a 

 moment to that passage in his letter in which he says: — "As you 

 indicate Education as one of the first objects to be dealt with, you 

 might in connection with it take up the alleged relations between 

 ignorance and crime, and education and morality " — I would venture 

 to suggest in connection with this subject that- it would be most 

 interesting and valuable to compare the classified results of Criminal 

 Statistics for a given period of years before the working of the School 

 Board in Birmingham and in other towns with the corresponding 

 period since the School Board has been in existence. And with it I 

 would also suggest the taking note of the recent labours of the Health 



