1879-1880.] 4i7 



gambolled in the foam of the torrent as it bounded from the moun- 

 tain to the sea, and spirits whispered in every breeze. This poly- 

 theism of the ancients is certainly more poetic, and probably as 

 rational as the materialism of some modern scientists who solve 

 the problem of Nature by referring them to the inherent vitality of 

 self-acting powers, the vortical movement of nebulous matter, the 

 potential energy of germs, the spontaneous generation of Bathy- 

 bius, or the fortuitous concourse of atoms. The true Naturalist will 

 not be satisfied merely with the discovery of immediate effects, or 

 antecedent causes, he will not rest satisfied with what science 

 has accomplished for the material welfare of mankind, or is des- 

 tined to achieve by the endless succession of her wonderful dis- 

 coveries. He is not satisfied with the contemplation of the beauty 

 and harmony everywhere displayed, or with tracing the varied 

 relations of the elements of matter, or the strange disclosures of 

 time and space. These are simply effects that can only be intel- 

 ligibly appreciated, and their full value ascertained, by the con- 

 sideration of the prior causes, each by itself an effect of other causes 

 in the chain that inevitably leads to the Great First Cause of all. 



On 9th December— the President (Mr. Wm. Gray, M.R.I.A.) 

 in the chair, a paper — entitled " A Few Words on British War 

 Medals," was read by Mr. John Browne, M.R.I.A. 



The essayist commenced by saying that about a couple of 

 sessions ago he had the privilege and pleasure of bringing a paper 

 before the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club on " The Origin and 

 Progress of Coinage,'' and, as a sort of postscript or continuation 

 of that paper, he proposed that evening to lay before the meeting 

 a few thoughts on British War Medals, a subject which, though 

 therein personally much interested, did not come exactly within the 

 range of this society ; yet he hoped it was not altogether out of place. 

 The question might arise in the mind of some one present, what 



