220 SJwp^-nrd : Hull's Cotifn'bulioii to Science. 



identical specimens presented by Smith and Phillips, and, more 

 important and valuable still, several of Smith's original hand- 

 coloured geological sections, published in i8ig, which have now 

 been framed and receive a deservedly prominent position in the 

 new geological gallery. That these were found but a few 

 months ago in a cellar under the Museum, discarded and dirty, 

 is but oviO. other piece of evidence of the change that latterly has 

 taken place in Hull's appreciation of science. 



To return to the Lit. and Phil. : the rooms in the Exchange 

 were soon inadequate for the collections and meetings, and 

 in 183 1 the Society removed to the building now known 

 as the Assembly Rooms, in Jarratt Street, part of which 

 had been specially constructed for its convenience. ' The Hull 

 Literary and Philosophical Miscellany ' was published by the 

 Society in October 1844, and continued to appear for a few 

 months. It contained papers, etc., read at its meetings. In 

 June 1855 the collections were removed to their present home in 

 the Royal Institution, Albion Street. This was opened by the late 

 Prince Consort in 1854, and cost about ^,"7,000, Charles Frost, 

 F.S.A., a thoroughly scientific man, then being the president. 



From that time the desire, or necessity, for a large income 

 slowly but surelv affected the nature of its meetings and the 

 quality of its work. The popular lecture made its appearance. 

 Huxley, Thackeray, and many other scientific and literary 

 leaders were induced to visit the town. The difference between 

 these and the local ' lights ' must have been most marked ; the 

 desire for first-rate lectures increased, the available funds at 

 the disposal of the Society were more and more encroached upon 

 for lecturers' fees, to the neg'lect of other matters. Competition 

 with the somewhat similar institutions in the town aided in the 

 general destruction of the ' philosophical ' element, and assisted 

 in the growth of the entertaining lantern lectures by more or 

 less eminent men, including even the nobility. To-day the 

 principal work of the officers of the Society, besides attention to a 

 certain social element, is the preparation of an attractive syllabus, 

 which necessitates a very large expenditure. Classes in chemistry 

 and other subjects were held later in the Society's rooms, and 

 under its auspices, but these were gradually discarded, their 

 places being taken by the School Board and other classes ; and 

 even its Museum, valuable as some of its contents were, became 

 a source of anxiety to the members, and was eventually handed 

 over to the town on certain conditions in January 1901. 

 [To be continued}) 



Naturalist, 



