290 N'otes (Hid Commoits. 



importance of printing only such papers and notes as have 

 a bearing- upon the natural history, etc., of the district in which 

 the respective club is situated. And, as far as possible, original 

 contributions only should be accepted. The result of an examina- 

 tion of the various annual publications issued by societies in that 

 part of the country covered by 'The Naturalist' is anything- but 

 satisfactory. Occasionally such reports consist of lists of officers 

 and members, the titles of lectures, and a balance sheet which 

 explains the meagreness of the report. Others are larger in 

 bulk but of no more value, being made up of abstracts of papers 

 read at the meetings (generally reprinted from newspapers), 

 dealing with every conceivable subject. Such can be of little 

 interest to anyone but the lecturers, if to them. Some publica- 

 tions contain lengthy papers dealing with districts far away from 

 that worked by the society, and in cases where these are original, 

 and of value, the unexpected quarter of their publication renders 

 them frequently overlooked. 



SHOULD BE KEPT LOCAL. 



Naturalists and others in search of information relating to 

 the geology or flora and fauna of any particular district naturally 

 refer to the publications of the societies situated in that district. 

 In a few cases they are most likely to be satisfied. Will those 

 interested please insist on local and original articles only being 

 published, otherwise the funds of the society will certainly be 

 wasted in publishing useless material. The number of publica- 

 tions issued is already appalling, as the bibliographer knows to 

 his sorrow. But were each to deal with a definite area, their 

 numbers need not be regretted. We would also implore those 

 societies about to commence publishing, not to do so unless 

 there is every probability of the publications continuing. We 

 could readily enumerate dozens of scientific periodicals and 

 Transactions which have come to an untimely end, rendering 

 access to any important papers they may have contained exceed- 

 ingly difficult. 



WHAT XOT TO PUBLISH. 



The above heading is suggested by the recent receipt of the 

 Report and Proceedings of a ' Field Naturalists' and Archaiolo- 

 o-ists' Society,' at an important city in South Lancashire. About 

 fortv pages of this are devoted to accounts of field excursions, 

 visits to manufactories, art galleries, etc., etc., some of the places 



