CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES, 469 



Warwickshire Naturalists' and Archseo- William Andrews, F.G.S, 

 logists' Field Club. 



1 2 Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club . Rev. J. O. Bevan, F.S.A. 



1 2 Yorkshire Geological and Polytechnic Professor P. F. Kendall, F.G.S. 



Society. 



I 2 Yorkshire Naturalists' Union . . W. West, F.L.S. 



1 Yorkshire Philosophical Society . Eev. W. Johnson, B.A. 



First Conference, Seftpmher 10. 



This Conference was presided over by Mr. W. Whitaker. The 

 Corresponding Societies Committee was represented by Mr. Whitaker, 

 the Rev. J. O. Bevan, the Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, Professor W. W. 

 Watts, Mr. J. Hopkinson, and Mr. Rudler. 



The Report of the Corresponding Societies Committee was read. 



The Chairman, after some introductory remarks, said that the Con- 

 ference was honoured by the presence of Sir Norman Lockyer, the 

 President of the Association, who had kindly promised to address the 

 Delegates on the necessity of organising science, with special reference 

 to the question whether the British Association can help in any way, and, 

 if so, whether the Corresponding Societies could take any part therein. 



Sir Norman Lockyer spoke as follows : I should like to say that my 

 object in asking permission to attend this meeting was to listen, and not 

 to talk. I have never had the privilege of attending a meeting of the 

 Delegates before, and I was very anxious indeed to be allowed to follow 

 the discussion, in order that I might inform myself as to the views of the 

 Delegates themselves regarding some lines of the work of the British Asso- 

 ciation which I ventured to refer to last night. My own opinion is that 

 in all these matters the principle of organic growth should be utilised as 

 far as possible ; and you jnay remember I suggested in my address that if 

 the British Association in its wisdom determines to take any action at 

 all in regard to the formation of a Guild of Science, which I hold would 

 be one of the most important things which students of science should do 

 at the present time, it is important to see whether or not that could best 

 be done in connection with the existing organisation of the Corresponding 

 Societies. It is stated in the reports, and I cited it in my address, that 

 there are seventy societies attiliated to the British Association, and that 

 the membership is something like 25,000. I went on to suggest in my 

 ignorance possibly, that we might very largely increase that number both 

 at home and abroad, so that ultimately we should have a very large 

 membership. The reason I ventured to make that suggestion was 

 that I felt the present moment was very opportune for the formation of 

 such a body, because you have throughout the kingdom, from Land's End 

 to John o' Groats, a great number of Councils — county councils, city 

 councils, town councils, district councils, parish councils, and goodness 

 knows what — and it struck me that if we could manage somehow to influence 

 the debates of these bodies, it would be very much better for science, and 

 ultimately, I think, very much to the benefit of the Association. I am a 

 very humble person, a very hardworking man, and I have been working 

 for the last forty years to try in my little way to get adopted some better 

 views of science in this country. Well, I am a miserable failure, and all 

 the people who have made similar endeavours are like me — miserable 

 failures. We have done absolutely nothing. So far as my experience 

 goeg, al) the attempts mfide by individuals during the last forty yeara^-r 



