22 Sheppard: Yorkshire's Contribution to Science. 
which have had their little day and ceased to be. To these, also, 
as will be seen later, Yorkshire has contributed a very fair share. 
Of those of more general interest, I may mention two, Viz., 
Science Gossib—of which thirty-seven volumes appeared between 
_ 1865 and 1902; and Natural Science, a magnificent publication, 
which was ‘eliminated’ at the close of its fifteenth volume, in 
1899. Comparing these with some of the so-called scientific pub- 
lications now appearing, it can hardly be said that the law of 
the survival of the fittest always applies to scientific serials. 
In examining some of these old journals it must be admitted 
that so far as typography, illustrations, paper. and general 
“get up’ are concerned, the modern publication does not always 
show to advantage in comparison with its predecessors of nearly 
a century ago. In those days the illustrations were frequently 
made by means of copper plates, and were works of art. The 
printer took a pride in the arrangement and spacing of his type, 
and the paper was often hand-made and lasting. The maps and 
diagrams were beautifully prepared and carefully and artistically 
coloured—frequently by hand. To-day, the apparent feverish 
haste of production, the careless composition, and process block 
frequently made from untidy sketches or poor photographs, are 
not pleasant. Nowadays a photograph is prepared in a few 
minutes, a block is made in a few hours, and printed on paper 
which, with care, may last a few months. 
An examination of the material published by the county and 
town societies, would seem to indicate that the centre of scientific 
activity has shifted from time to time. York once took a good 
lead ; Huddersfield at one time was a long way ahead ; Halifax 
had its day; Leeds, a while ago, produced the most ; while, at 
the present day, judging from the quantity of different societies’ 
journals there published, the ‘centre’ is most eccentric of all, 
being at Hull, in a corner of the county. 
The commencement of the systematic publication of scientific 
literature in the county may be said to have occurred early last 
century, when Philosophical and Literary Societies were formed 
in the large towns. These societies discussed—really discussed— 
papers read at their meetings, and issued annual reports, the 
earlier numbers of which, more especially, contained much valuable 
scientific information. The chief pride of these societies, however, 
was in the museums they founded. To-day, I regret to say, 
most of the societies have developed or devolved into popular 
lime-light lecture concerns, and are usually neither Literary nor 
Philosophical. 
County societies then followed, such as the Yorkshire Geo- 
logical. and Polytechnic Society, the Yorkshire Naturalists’ 
Union and the Yorkshire Archeological Society. Later, came 
the Field Clubs, which to some extent are carrying out the former 
work of the Philosophical Societies. Each Field Club has 
Naturalist, 
