1887-1888.] 35 



In the Winter of 1861 the functions of the "Committee of 

 Lectures," which seems to have been an organising body, were 

 taken up by a local committee, and arrangements made 

 for the establishment of classes on a more permanent 

 basis. The Committee consisted of Messrs. Samuel Coey, 

 James Darbishire, John Herdman, James Cuming, M.D., 

 Herbert Darbishire, Robert Patterson, Thomas Sinclair, jun., 

 James Hind, William Bottomley, Robert M'Adam, James 

 Hamilton, Charles Duffin, Thomas Andrews, M.D., Wyville 

 Thomson, LL.D., J. J. Murphy, and A. F. Herdman, 

 the two latter gentlemen acting, if I recollect aright, 

 as secretaries. From this list we find that the majority, if not 

 the whole of this Committee, were members of the Natural 

 History Society ; and a newspaper paragraph some few years 

 later refers to the classes which have been conducted under the 

 auspices of that Society. I think we may assign to it, therefore, 

 the credit of thus aiding the popularisation of the study of 

 Natural Science. The Committee were fortunate in obtaining 

 the services, as teacher, of Mr. Ralph Tate, F.G.S. (now Pro- 

 fessor at Adelaide, South Australia), and in a short time his 

 classes in Geology and Mineralogy were in full operation, not 

 only in Belfast, but also in Lisburn and Carrickfergus. It is 

 worthy of note, in order to show the subsequent extension of 

 the Science and Art system, that during Mr. Tate's first year in 

 Belfast, there were in the subjects taught by him only eleven 

 classes throughout the Kingdom. His classes in Geology were 

 most successful, all the candidates passed the examination ; and 

 out of the thirteen first-class prizes awarded in the Kingdom, 

 eleven fell to the lot of his pupils ; while out of the eight 

 medals, or honorary awards in lieu of medals, six were gained 

 by them. In the following Winter, 1862-63, the scope of Mr. 

 Tate's classes was extended, and the subjects of Vegetable 

 Physiology and Systematic Botany, Animal Physiology and 

 Zoology, were taken up, in addition to the subjects taught 

 during his first year, and with a very marked amount of 

 success. The next year saw a further development of the 

 scheme in the opening of classes in Chemistry by our fellow 



