24 



NA TURE 



\Nov. 13, 1873 



coarse and fine grits and greywacke, having red and 

 green bands of flinty mudstone, conglomerate, and occa- 

 sional breccia associated with them, occur — a persistent 

 band of conglomerate containing quartz-rock pebbles, 

 Lydian stone, and jasper characterise this group. The 

 conglomerate, being locally known as " Haggis Rock," 

 has furnished the name to the series, which is about 

 1,800 feet thick. The Haggis group in Dumfriesshire is 

 seen striking across the river Afton, also, along the 

 N.W. flanks of the Lowther hills, and elsewhere in this 

 county. More to the north it can be recognised along 

 the north-western margin of the Silurian area in Craw- 

 fordjohn, Lanarkshire. The Haggis rock is not per- 

 sistent in its character. To the N.E. this conglomerate 

 becomes much finer in grain, and passes "into a gritty 

 greywacke." This group has hitherto yielded no fossils. 

 In Wigtonshire the Haggis rock cannot be distinguished 

 as a distinct series ; its characteristic conglomerate being, 

 as already seen, of local occurrence, it does not appear to 

 manifest itself in the Silurians in the S.W. of Scotland. 

 ( To be continued^ 



LOCAL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES 



IN very many ways has the general advance of intelli- 

 gence, elevation of taste, and spread of education 

 been shown during the present century, and more espe- 

 cially during the last thirty years ; one of these ways 

 is undoubtedly the increasingly rapid spread of Locaj 

 Scientific So:ieties. What we mean by a "Local 

 Scientific Society," as distinguished from the large 

 Societies of London, is an association of individuals in a 

 particular locality for the common study of one or more 

 branches of science, by the reading of original papers, 

 and what is perhaps of more importance, the actual investi- 

 gation of the natural history — geology, zoology, botany, 

 meteorology — and archaeology of its district. Of the 

 societies established within the last thirty years, nearly 

 all are marked by these characteristics ; such at all events 

 is their professed object, and we are glad to say that, to 

 judge from the special reports which we have received, 

 and the numerous printed "Proceedings" of greater or 

 less pretensions which are sent us from time to time, a 

 very large proportion creditably carry out their pro- 

 gramme. 



In anumber of the principal towns of England and Scot- 

 land associations exist, dating, some of them, from the end of 

 last century, known as " Literary and Philosophical Socie- 

 ties,"or by some similar title. These are generally compara- 

 tively wealthy, possessed of good buildings containing a 

 library, museum, reading-rooms, lecturc-hall, &c., with a 

 large body of members belonging to the middle and upper 

 classes. These, however, so far as their original objects 

 are concerned, with one or two exceptions, scarcely come 

 under the category of Local Scientific Societies, in the sense 

 of the definition given above, though many of them^ 

 stimulated by the growin:j taste for Science, have recently 

 added to their usual courses of lectures on literary subjects, 

 others on subjects connected with Science, and have even 

 organised classes for the study, under competent lecturers 

 or teachers, of one or more branches of Science. In some 

 instances, moreover, a few of the members of these respec- 



table old associations have united to form societies of a 

 kind which entitle them to be regarded as Local Scientific 

 Societies, and even Field-Clubs. Still, all these older 

 societies, as they existed previous to 1S30, differed 

 in many essential respects from the Local Societies and 

 Field-Clubs which began to spring up about that time ; 

 even the well-known Literary and Philosophical Society 

 of Manchester, cjuite on a par with some of the best 

 London Societies, and which has produced original work 

 of the highest value, has been all along confined to 

 the learned and professional men of the city and neigh- 

 bourhood, who have made use of the meetings of the 

 Society for the purpose of making known the results of 

 their independent scientific investigations. 



So far as can be ascertained, the society just men- 

 tioned is the oldest provincial society which can be 

 considered as in any way scientific, having been estab- 

 lished in 1784, for the purpose of diffusing "literary and 

 scientific intelligence, and of promoting the literary and 

 scientific inquiries of learned men in the town and neigh- 

 bourhood." " The results of its labours," Sir Walter 

 Elliott says, in his valuable address to the Edinburgh 

 Botanical Society, in 1870, on this subject, " were pub- 

 lished in ' Memoirs,' the first volume of which appeared 

 in 1785, at which time James Massey was president, and 

 Thomas Barnes, D.D., and Thomas Henry, F.R.S., were 

 Secretaries. Five volumes had appeared up to 1S02. 

 In 1805 a second series commenced under the Rev. 

 John Walker, President, and John Hall and John 

 Dalton, Secretaries, which had extended to five volumes 

 more in 1S60. A third series was commenced in 1862, 

 and has reached volume xiii. The second series is en- 

 riched with many papets by Dalton, including the first 

 development of the atomic theory." In 1858 a micro- 

 scopical and natural history sec ion was established ; 

 the latter, however, we regret to say, is since defunct. 



The next society of this class in order of time was insti- 

 tuted at Perth in 1 781, as the Perth Literary and Antiquarian 

 Society ; we need not say that, so far as eminence is 

 concerned, it was never to be compared with the Man- 

 chester Society. It has never done scientific woik of any 

 value, though it possesses a handsome building, with a 

 museum, devoted mostly to antiquities, but having a fine 

 natural history collection as well, and a good library. Like 

 many other societies of a similar kind, its building serves 

 as a kind of meeting-place or club, where those members 

 who have nothing to do can meet and have a gossip, and 

 read the papers. This society has pubhshed only one 

 volume of " Transactions " (in 1827), but so far as we know, 

 they have now no transactions to record. A few years 

 ago, as will be seen from our list in Vol. viii. p. 521, a 

 Natural .Science Society was established in the county, 

 with Perth as its headquarters, which gives promise of 

 being one of the best working Local Scientific Societies in 

 the kingdom. 



In 1 801 a society ofa similar kind was established in the 

 sister kingdom, the Literary Society of Belfast, which has 

 never done anything to call for note here. Previous to this, 

 however, in 1 793, the Newcastle-on-Tyne Literary and Phi- 

 losophical Society was estabhshed, which, although it has 

 published only one volume of memoirs, and is little more 

 than the owner of an excellent public library, does good 

 work by providing educational courses of lectures for in- 



