57 



interest attaching to them. They fancy all the observations 

 they have made have been recorded already. This is a great 

 mistake. The value of such a society as ours is that it brings 

 together workers of similar tastes who should mutually show 

 their work and share their experiences, thereby enabling all 

 to widen their practical knowledge, and to see specimens 

 from different localities which they might otherwise never 

 have the opportunity of doing. 



If all members would make it a point to let us see as 

 much as possible of the results of the work they are doing, 

 it would greatly add to the interest and usefulness of our 

 meetings. There really is room for considerable improve- 

 ment in this respect. 



Specimens in groups outside one's own particular line are 

 always interesting, especially when accompanied by the usual 

 descriptive remarks. We are fortunate in being able to refer 

 difficulties about objects we come across to some of the 

 experts in their own line among our fellow-members. 



Photography has been described as the handmaiden of 

 the Sciences, and students of natural history are making 

 increasing use of its help. 



Birds, their nests and eggs, have been so well worked 

 that excellent photographs have been obtained of almost all 

 on the British list. 



I am glad to see in our own Society the number of workers 

 is growing, and we have had opportunities at our lantern 

 meetings of seeing examples of their work. 



We have several members photographing the various 

 stages of the lepidoptera, but as yet the other orders of 

 insects have been somewhat neglected. 



Lastly, but by no means least, our botanical friends have 

 been very busy and have secured excellent pictures of plants, 

 both in the studio and in their natural state. 



Photomicrography has been successfully used for figuring 

 ova and showing details of insect structure, etc. 



We have also seen what an important part photography 

 can play in works on natural history, like those of Mr. Step. 

 The lifelike pictures of animals and plants show a great 

 improvement when compared with the illustrations in the 

 older works. 



Long papers have not been as numerous as in some former 

 years, but those we have had have been of very great interest. 



Our collections have increased during the year, chiefly 

 owing to the exertions of our Curator and a few of the 

 members. A little co-operation on the part of the members 



