THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION, 15 
have produced new fruits and flowers to nourish the race and 
beautify the landscape. 
The list might be continued indefinitely, but lest I weary you 
[ turn to the affairs of the society. Much valuable work has 
been done in geology, ornithology, botany, conchology, ento- 
mology and other departments, but the demands and press of 
business, and the march of time have removed many energetic 
workers from our midst. | 
Our geological section still continues to decipher the secrets 
of the rocks, but in biology we are very weak. 
The recently organized astronomical section has begun. well, 
and gives great promise, but what we most need is greater gen- 
eral energy. 
Pardon my importunity, therefore, if I solicit the active co- 
operation of interested hearers. 
Neither great expenditure of money nor wide travel is neces- 
sary to study nature. ‘Too wide a field is simplv bewildering 
toa beginner. Intelligent application is the key to success. 
The following paragraph, garbled from Entomological News, 
may be of interest to those who think their environment is not 
suitable for nature study: “The Eastern Penitentiary, situ- 
ated in the heart of the city of Philadelphia, is surrounded by a 
stone wall about 42 feet high. The corridors run from a com- 
mon centre, like the spokes of a wheel, thus leaving some 
ground between them. Most of the cells have a small yard at- 
tached, in which the prisoner is allowed a few hours each day 
for exercise. Some time ago, while on a professional visit to 
some of the inmates, I was mortified to find a lepidopterist, 
though interested in his captures, which were all made in the 
yard attached to his cell. ‘This yard was 14 x 17 feet, but with 
walls 11% feet high. In this small space he had caught, dur- 
ing the past summer, 18 species. One of the species is a great 
rarity and a second is surely less so.” A volume has been filled 
with an account of discoveries made in a tour around a back 
yard. Fifty species of plants have been taken by a botanist in 
the old cellar of a demolished house. The little pools formed 
by the hoofs of cattle in swampy ground furnish numerous 
