CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES. 43 



The Corresponding Societies Committee of the British Association beg 

 leave to submit to the Genei-al Committee the following report. 



The Committee observe with satisfaction that the corresponding societies 

 steadily increase in number, and that the total number of the members 

 composing them also increases. For example, in the British Association 

 Report of the Bath Meeting in 1888 there is a list of 55 con-esponding 

 societies, having a total of 18,950 members. The Toronto Report of last 

 vear shows 69 corresponding societies, having a total of 22,395 members. 

 On the other hand, the average number of members in each society- 

 appears to have slightly decreased, having been between 344 and 345 in 

 1888, and between 324 and 325 in 1897. But this is accounted for by 

 the collapse of the two federations — the Midland Union and the Cumber- 

 laud and Westmoreland Association— and the withdrawal of the Royal 

 Scottish Geographical Society between the two periods. For in 1888 

 these three associations numbered among them 4,006 members, as many 

 as would be found in eleven or twelve average societies. 



The Committee are also pleased to know that as the great majority of 

 the societies, the main purpose of whose existence is local scientific inves- 

 tigation, are now on the list of corresponding societies, the index of their 

 more important papers approximates to completeness more and more each 

 year as a record of local work. But they nevertheless regret the absence 

 from their index of papers read before certain societies of more or less 

 importance which from various causes are not on their list. Primarily by 

 the term 'local' the British Association implies that a society so classed 

 has its headquarters out of London. But it can hardly be expected that 

 societies which have long flourished in cities such as Edinburgh and 

 Dublin will feel that they are ' local,' as they might be justified in doing 

 if their headquarters were at Aberdeen or Belfast, Leeds or Birmingham, 

 or as if they recognised some county as their sphere of action. Then, 

 many societies have been formed for the study and advancement of some 

 science or group of sciences in various parts of the country, with little 

 reference to local phenomena, which societies appeal to their members 

 rather as being conveniently near than in any other way. 



But though societies such as have just been alluded to may be little 

 more ' local ' in feeling and in the nature of their work than London 

 societies it must sometimes happen that papers devoted to local scientific 

 investigations are published by them. The Committee therefore regret 

 the absence from their list of papers of local interest which have been 

 published by such societies as the following : — 



The Royal Irish Academy, Royal Dublin Society, Institution of Civil 

 Engineers of Ireland, Royal Society of Edinburgh, Botanical Society of 

 Edinburgh, Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, Liverpool Biological 

 Society, Liverpool Naturalists' Field Club, Manchester Literary and 

 Philosophical Society. 



Fortunately, in most cases, information as to the titles and authors of 

 papers read before local societies which are not corresponding societies 

 of the Association may be obtained from the ' Oflicial Year-book of the 

 Scientific and Learned Societies of Great Britain and Ireland,' C. Grifiin 

 ik Co., London. The ' Year-book ' appears every spring, and contains lists 

 of papers read in the previous year. It will be found that the ' Year-book ' 

 and the British Association ' Index ' combined leave little to be desired by 

 the inquirer after papers on any locality in the British Isles. 



