PRESIDENT S ADDRESS. 



19 



that whatever scheme was adopted must be one that in no way 

 compromised the individuality or the independence of constituent 

 societies. I was requested to attend a proposed meeting of dele- 

 gates at Brighton on your behalf, which I had the pleasure of 

 doing in company with Professor Freire-Marreco, one of the 

 Secretaries of the Natural History Society. I confess the result 

 was not altogether satisfactory. The meeting was a large one, 

 and leading members of many of the best known Field Clubs and 

 scientific societies might be recognised amongst those present, 

 but who were there as members of the Committee, who in a 

 representative capacity, who as mere lookers-on, it was impossi- 

 ble to say. Notwithstanding the number of members of the As- 

 sociation interested in the question, so little importance had been 

 attached to the meeting that its hour was made dependant on the 

 time when other business happened to be finished, and thus, 

 crowded out of the programme, everything was hurried and free 

 discussion impracticable. The suggestions thrown out seemed to 

 show a want of appreciation of the conditions under which Field 

 Clubs at least have place in the economy of science. Only one 

 definite proposal was brought forward, that of Col. Lane Fox, 

 which was as follows — "That with the view of uniting the 

 papers of local societies under distinct scientific headings, it is 

 desirable that the local societies should agree upon a classifica- 

 tion of subjects, and on a uniform size of volume for their 

 publications ; that under the several classes of subjects deter- 

 mined upon, additional copies should be printed by the societies 

 in the same manner that additional copies are now struck off for 

 the use of authors, and that these should be united annually in 

 a single volume for each class of subjects under the auspices of 

 the Association." Under pressure of time the meeting eventually 

 broke up without arriving at any conclusion, and the whole 

 matter stands over for the consideration of a new and somewhat 

 enlarged Committee. The best reply, so far as we are concerned, 

 to Col. Lane Fox's proposal, would be a copy of our balance 

 sheet. The advantage of a largely increased circulation of our 

 papers would be readily acknowledged if the matter came before 

 our Committee, but the reply would be all the same, "We 



