384 REPORT—1904. 
any papers which had been read, and official notices from any Societies 
which wished to call attention to work requiring co-operation, or to points 
upon which information was desired. The great use of such a journal 
would be that, at any time, it would be possible to unite all the connected 
Societies in common action for the attainment of some purpose of national 
or scientific importance ; and if this journal was edited under the auspices 
of the British Association, the connection with the Central Body would 
be brought home in a very real manner to the members of this scattered 
constituency. Few Societies would grudge this small contribution of 
scarcely more than one penny per annum per member. I am aware that 
many objections could be urged against such a scheme ; but I donot think 
that the difficulties are insurmountable, and, once surmounted, a great step 
would have been taken towards the utilisation of that general interest in 
natural science of which the best evidence is to be found in the growth, 
the numbers, the variety, and the labours of the local Societies of this 
kingdom. 
I trust it will be understood that I make these suggestions with great 
diftidence. I have taken no part in the work of these Conferences in the 
past, and it was therefore with considerable hesitation that I accepted 
the honour of nomination as your Chairman to-day. 
The circumstances under which I have been placed during the past 
two years, however, have strongly impressed upon me the possibilities placed 
at our disposal by the existence of local Societies. I am living in the midst 
of a great working-class population, and have been brought in contact 
with the workers in the coal mines of Glamorgan and Monmouth. I am 
also serving on educational and other bodies in which these workers are 
largely represented. At first it appeared to me that any demands for 
assistance for higher scientific education or research were regarded with 
indifference ; but I have found that when the facts of the situation were 
placed before the men or their representatives, when it was pointed out to 
them how greatly their employment and their interests were dependent on 
the results obtained by scientific investigations, their attitude of indiffer- 
ence—if not of suspicion—was replaced by one of sympathy and good will. 
Our local Societies have it in their power to bring such facts home to the 
people of this country, and, great as are the services which the British 
Association has rendered in the past, I believe if it can accomplish the 
task of uniting the activities of our local Societies in one common effort, 
it will not be reckoned amongst the least of the achievements of the 
Association. Having tendered this apology for my audacity, I now 
venture to ask the Delegates to give their consideration to the following 
proposals, it being understood that, even if the principles therein conveyed 
are approved of, these proposals will require redrafting, and that conse- 
quent ones connected with matters of detail will require careful con- 
sideration :— 
(1) That any Society which undertakes local scientific investigation 
and publishes the results may become a Society affiliated to the British 
Association, 
(2) That the Delegates of such Societies shall be members of the 
General Committee. 
(3) That any Society formed for the purpose of encouraging the study 
of natural knowledge which has existed for three years and numbers not 
fewer than fifty members may become a Society associated with the British 
Association. 
