CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES. 30 
1 Scarborough Philosophical and) : g 
Archeological Society Herbert King, M.Sc. 
2 School Nature Study Union s . Mrs. White, D.Sc. 
1 2 Southport Society of Natural Science D. E. Benson. 
Teign Naturalists’ Field Club . 2) bal, Ss Amery. 
Torquay Natural History Society . A. Somervail. 
a) 
bo 
Tunbridge Wells Natural History and | Lint shht IRS 
Philosophiwal Society } Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, F.R.S. 
Watford Camera Club : ‘ . John Hopkinson, F.L.S. 
First Meeting, August 1. 
The Meeting was presided over by Mr. H. J. Mackinder, M.A., 
Chairman of the Conference. The Corresponding Societies Committee 
was represented by the Rev. J. O. Bevan, Sir Edward Brabrook, Dr. 
H R. Mill, Mr. Rudler, the Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, F.R.S., and Mr. 
Whitaker, F.R.S. 
The Chairman delivered an address on ‘The Advancement of Geo- 
graphical Science by Local Scientific Societies.’ 
Chairman’s Address. 
The honour of presiding over your Conference has been conferred 
on me in order, as I understand, that I may have the opportunity of 
bringing before you the desirability of local geographical research in this 
country. From the fact that I live in London, I cannot pretend to offer any 
experience or useful advice either in the matter of the opportunities open 
to the Societies which you represent, or in regard to the difficulties which 
may beset them. How far what I am going to say may be practicable 
under your conditions it is for you to decide. My function, it appears 
to me, is to place before you an ideal, and to speak to you simply as 
a geographer. This much, however, I am entitled to say—that the work 
which I wish to commend to your attention has been accomplished in 
neighbouring countries, in some degree at any rate, by the co-operation 
of local agencies. 
In France there are some twenty local Geographical Societies, there 
being one, with very few exceptions, in each of the old provincial centres. 
These Societies hold an annual conference, which resembles this Conference 
except that it is for geography only. Not a few geographical studies 
relating to different parts of France have emanated from these Societies, 
and have been published in the ‘Annales de Géographie’ and other 
journals. It is in part from these fragments that Vidal de la Blache has 
built up his admirable description of France in the introductory volume 
of the great history which is now being issued by Lavisse. 
In Germany the same end is attained, although with slightly different 
machinery. There, as you know, university education is more markedly 
decentralised than in France, or even in Britain, with the result that 
scattered over the whole country there are geographical institutes of 
university rank whose professors and students have put together a rich 
geographical literature descriptive of every part of the land. 
My suggestion is that in this country a similar work might be 
achieved by the co-operation of your Societies. It is true that we have a 
certain number of provincial Geographical Societies, but, with the excep- 
“gen “a the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in Edinburgh, they are 
r¢ D 
