SPRING MEETING. 15 



ought to be accompanied by illustrations, and illustrations cost 

 money. He could not but believe that their many wealthy 

 friends would gladly help them if they could only satisfy them 

 that they were doing real work ; that they were in their journal 

 storing up information worth storing, and not aiming merely to 

 produce a volume of light reading for the lazy hours of a summer 

 afternoon. He felt at present that they could give no such 

 assurance. Except the writings of Mr. Baring-Gould and Mr. 

 Whitley's notes, what serious contribution to their history had 

 that Society made in the last ten years ? He should like them to 

 form an Index Committee, that they might have readier means of 

 consulting the Cornish histories and the publications of the Rolls 

 Office, and the same committee might correct the errors in the 

 latter volumes arising fi'om a want of local knowledge. They 

 perhaps could not attain perfection at once— that was no reason 

 why they should not make some effort towards it. If in Devon- 

 shire they could do such good work as they had, let Cornwall not 

 be too proud to imitate them, that they in Cornwall might do it 

 too. 



Mr. Enys, Archdeacon Cornish and Mr. Trevail emphasised 

 the importance of the essayist's suggestions, Mr. Trevail remark- 

 ing that if the rush of life would only permit, and those 

 gentlemen who had the leisure would devote the time to it, there 

 was a splendid field for a historical record of the county, and 

 nowhere more so than in the city of Truro. The President said 

 the other subjects, which it was necessary for almost everybody 

 to have a more or less minute acquaintance with, reduced the 

 leisure time of everyone to a point beyond which they could not 

 go. 



Dr. Clark contributed "Notes on the Natural History of 

 Cornwall," and Mr. Eupert Vallentin " Notes on the Fauna of 

 Falmouth," both of which are printed in this Journal. 



Canon Donaldson proposed a vote of thanks to the 

 contributors of papers and other communications, and to the 

 donors to the library and Museum, and emphasised the great 

 importance of setting to work without delay to secure a good 

 history of Cornwall, because the longer it was postponed the 

 more difficult it would be to obtain it. The trend of modern 



