CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES COMMITTEE. 



Corresponding Societies Convmittee. Report of the Committee con- 

 sisting of Mr. William Whitaker, F.R.S. {Chairman), Mr. 

 Wilfred Mark Webb (Secretary), Mr. P. J. Ashton, Dr. F. A. 

 Bather, F.R.S., the Rev. J. 0. Bevan, Sir Edward Brabrook, 

 C.B., Sir H. G. Fordham, Mr. T. Sheppard, the Rev. T. R. R. 

 Stebbing, F.B.S., Mr. Mark Sykes, and the President and 

 GeneraTj Officers of the Association. {Drav)n up by the Secre- 

 tary.) 



I. 



The Committee reports that the followiac; are the officers of the Conference of 



Delegates to be held at Cardiff : President, Mr. T. Sheppard, M.Sc, F.G.&. ; 



Vice-President^ Mr. F. W. Sowerbutts; Hecretctry, Mr. Wilfred Mark Webb, 



F.L.S. ; and that the progra-mme is as follows : — 



Wednesday, August 25. at 2 p.m. — (1) Presidential Address by Thomas Sheppard, 

 M.Sc, F.G.S., on ' The Evolution of Topographical and Geological Maps.' 

 (2) Paper on ' Railways and their Obligations to the Community,' by A. H. 

 Garstang, J^ecretary of the Railway Facilities Sub-Committee of Section F. 



Friday, August 27, at 2 p.m. — Discussion on ' The Status of Local Societies: the 

 means of developing theii' objects, of getting new members, of publishing 

 papers and making announcemients,' which will be opened by William 

 Whitaker, B.A., F.R.S. 



After the meeting the Delegates will he entertained to tea by Principal A. H. 

 Trow, D.Sc, F.L.S., President of the Cardiff Xaturalist.s' Association, and 

 will have an opportunity of -seeing the Exhibition, illustrating the Presidential 

 Address and the work of local Societies. 



The Committee recommends that the Offa Field Club, Oswestry, be admitted 

 as an Affiliated Society, and the Scottish Natural History Society, the Darlington 

 and Teesdale Naturalists' Field Club, and the Greenock Philosophical Society 

 as Associated Societies. 



The Committee asks to be reappointed, with a grant of 40/. 



II. 



At the first meeting of the Conference of Delegates on Wednesday, August 25, 

 the President, ^Mr. T. Sheppard, delivered the following address : — 



The Evolution of Topographical and Geological Maps. 



One of the secrets of successful collecting — and every scientific man is a col- 

 lector in some form or other — is to secure series of certain specimens or objects 

 for which few people, if any, are in search. In this way it is possible to 

 contribute something tangible towards the advancement of science. 



On a previous occasion I had the privilege of bringing before your notice 

 information relating to the past difficulties in connection with the exchange 

 of currency, clearly demonstrating the necessity for the decimal system of 

 weights and measures. (See 'Rep. Brit. Assoc, 'for 1917,' pp. 228-235.) That 

 paper was made possible by collecting old boxes of money scales and weights, 

 a few years' vrork resulting in the finest series of English examples in existence 

 being gathered together. 



In the same way, and for somewhat similar reasons, collecting old topo- 

 graphical and geological atlases and maps was indulged in, and by methods 

 familiar to experienced collectors, examples of old road-books, charts, and 

 geological plans, diagrams, and maps began to accumulate to an extent wliidi 

 was positively alarming ! 



