35 



that it will, at no distant date, see its way to seeking affilia- 

 tion or association and thus again secure some of the 

 advantages offered. 



Another and somewhat earlier attempt to associate local 

 societies, and one that has proved entirely successful, was 

 the formation of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union. In the 

 north of England local societies are of ancient date ; so long 

 ago as 1781 at least one was in existence in Manchester, and 

 within the next fifty years others sprang up in Newcastle-on- 

 Tyne, York, Hull, Whitby, and some other towns. 



The work of these societies was general in character, and it 

 was not until many years later that societies devoted entirely 

 to natural history subjects were started. Of these the 

 Berwickshire Naturalists' Club was the pioneer, and was soon 

 followed by the Tyneside Naturalists' Club, the Huddersfield 

 Naturalists' Society,* and sundry other similar institutions. 



These had not been in existence for any great length of 

 time before the principle of federation began to be considered. 

 At an informal meeting of members from some three or four 

 of these societies the question of the advisability of more 

 combined and organised intercourse was discussed and 

 approved, with the result that on January 18th, 1862, a 

 further meeting was held, and the West Riding Consolidated 

 Naturalists' Society founded, this somewhat cumbersome title 

 being changed to the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union in 1877. 



The Union holds an annual meeting at which the ordinary 

 business is transacted, and a reception and conversazione are 

 also included in the programme. This meeting is held each 

 year in a different town at the invitation of one or other of 

 the local societies comprised in the Union, and the President 

 of the inviting society is the President of the Union for the 

 time being. It also holds field meetings from time to time 

 for the investigation of the various parts of the district 

 covered by its operations ; they are invariably well organised 

 and fully attended. It has two publications, " The Natur- 

 alist," a monthly magazine for recording the observations 

 and discoveries of the members, and " Transactions," in 

 which are published lists and monographs too bulky for the 

 magazine. The Yorkshire Naturalists' Union has progressed 

 from its commencement, and at the Annual Meeting held at 

 Halifax, in December last, the large hall in the museum was 

 crowded to overflowing by the members and associates. 



It might be thought that this powerful Union would, to 



* The Huddersfield Naturalists' Society is, I believe, the oldest in Yorkshire 

 and has been a leading society ever since its foundation in 1847. 



