1884-1885.] 343 



Robt. M'Kee. Four worked flint flakes were found near the urn, 

 and two other urns were also discovered close by. A number of 

 members, as usual, kindly attended with their microscopes, dia- 

 toms being shown by Mr. W. A. Firth ; specimens of microscopic 

 drawings by Dr. Malcomson. Mr. J. J. Andrew, L.D.S., R.C.S., 

 England, showed samples of comparative dental anatomy, and 

 also a valuable recent work, *' Studies in Microscopical Science," 

 edited by Arthur C. Cole, F.R.M.S. Mr. Joseph Wright, F.G.S., 

 showed foramenifera, &c. Thanks are due to several friends who 

 kindly sent flowers for the decoration of the room. 



On the evening of the i8th November, The President — Mr. 

 William H. Patterson, M.R.I.A., delivered the opening address. 

 He said — Our Field Club, as you know, concerns itself not only 

 with the natural history of this part of Ireland and with 

 natural history generally, but, besides this, its other chief 

 branch of investigation includes the antiquities and archaeology 

 of Ireland, particularly of this province. It seemed to me that 

 I might occupy your attention for a short time this evening by 

 briefly referring to some of the early sources of information we 

 have, as to the ancient topography of Ireland, the history of 

 events, and the customs and modes of thought of the early in- 

 habitants. Owing to the studious habits and literary tastes of 

 the Irish in olden times, and to their strong desire to recover 

 and preserve all the facts connected with their national and 

 family history, Irish scribes seem to have been continually 

 occupied in compiling annals, in which they narrated such mat- 

 ters as had been handed down to their time, either by oral tra- 

 dition or by the labours of earlier scribes. Even before a single 

 page of written history existed in Ireland, the bards and 

 sennachies, who were professional historians, had committed to 

 memory long histories of events. It has been conjectured that 

 these histories were in rhyme for their more easy committal to 

 memory. The earliest scribes, no doubt, wrote down as much 

 as existed in their time of this early bardic history. Whether 



