CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES. 473 



members to a town council, I think that might be a difficult matter, 

 because a member is elected for a particular Avard, and you could not 

 possibly get the scientific opinion of a town focussed on a particular 

 ward or candidate. The Southport Society is very pleased indeed to have 

 been able to bring the British Association to Southport, and on behalf of 

 our local Society 1 heartily welcome the Delegates 



Professor J. W. Carr (Nottingham Naturalists' Society) : It may 

 possibly be of some use if I state what we have been doing at Notting- 

 ham for some years past. The Nottingham University College, an 

 extremely flourishing institution, well equipped with scientific laboratories 

 and a good natural history museum, really arose out of the efforts of the 

 old local Natural History Society, which managed to get the corporation 

 so interested in scientific matters that they ultimately founded what is 

 possibly the only institution of a university character in this country 

 ■which owes its inception to the corporation of the locality. As many of 

 you know, we have for many years been doing our best to promote 

 scientific work of all kinds, and I think we may say that we have suc- 

 ceeded in creating a great deal of interest, and that we have some local 

 influence on the constitution of the new educational bodies which are 

 springing up all over the country. Myself and two of my brother-pro- 

 fessors have been put on the educational bodies of neighbouring boroughs, 

 and there is a constant demand for advice on such matters as the creation 

 and equipment of scientific laboratories. At the present moment Ilkeston 

 is just considering the question of building a large science school with 

 chemical, physical, and even biological laboratories — a remarkable thing for 

 a borough of less than 10,000 inhabitants. That is the way of attaining 

 the object Sir Norman Lockyer has at heart. We are trying to get hold of 

 the ' man in the street,' and also the children. We have a day department 

 in our college, with 1 20 students, who come for two years' training, and 

 are replaced by a similar number. Almost the whole of these are to 

 enter on elementary teaching after going through a certain amount of 

 science work. These people then go out into the public schools of the 

 neighbourhood, and endeavour in their turn to create an interest in 

 scientific matters among their pupils. One of the best features of their 

 work is that they are allowed by the education committee to bring their 

 scholars once a week to the University College to inspect the museum, 

 and even the laboratories, and those of us who are able to do so take 

 them I'ound the institution and point out to them the features of special 

 interest, as well as things which have a direct bearing on their work and 

 on the industries and trades of the locality. Further, we supplement 

 our purely academic work by public lectures on scientific subjects specially 

 addressed to working men. We get very large audiences, and the men 

 take a great interest in what we are doing. I believe in that way we 

 are creating a kind of constituency from which we expect to get good 

 results in the future. 



The Rev. J. O. Bevan (Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club) : We are 

 all very much indebted to our President for opening the discussion on 

 this subject. I have a feeling, however, that the proposition is a little 

 nebulous at present, and before we discuss the matter further I think we 

 should have before us some suggestion of a definite character, around 

 which our thoughts might be suffered to crystallise. But one takes a 

 grain of comfort from the thought that if any Guild of Science bp 

 founded under the auspices he suggests, the British Association ancl the 



