36 



[Proc. B.N.F.C., 



adequately honoured by the presence of the three professors of 

 the Natural History staff. Unfortunately Professor Johnson and 

 Professor Carpenter are unable to be present, and they express 

 their regrets through me. The Natural History branch in our 

 College is a strong one in staff and equipment, because in a rural 

 country, a country largely devoted to agriculture, Natural History 

 must always fill an unusually large position. Consequently we 

 fully realize the value of the work done by the Belfast Naturalists' 

 Field Club. For that reason I am particularly glad to be able to 

 thank you to-day personally. We have known your hospitality in 

 Belfast for many years. What I know of the north-east of Ireland 

 has been due almost entirely to the kindness of members of the 

 Club, who have taken me over the ground during the last fifteen 

 or twenty years. From a departmental point of view, generations 

 of our students have been indebted to this Club, and to work of 

 the best kind done by amateurs throughout the North of Ireland. 

 Even before the Club existed there were memorable workers in 

 the North of Ireland. I need only mention Sampson's map of 

 Londonderry, and the work of Hamilton and Richardson on the 

 northern basaltic area. Such men were always turning attention 

 to the Natural History of the north, collecting material which for 

 official purposes it has been a duty to collate, and on which we 

 could not hope to improve. Our students owe perhaps more to 

 one member of this Club than to any others; I refer to Mr. 

 Robert J. Welch. Day after day we are utilising his magnificent 

 series of illustrations, which are truly scientific observations, and 

 which he has always been willing to give away, with marked 

 generosity, to his friends. For myself, and in the name of the 

 Royal College of Science, I thank the Club most warmly for the 

 knowledge of Ireland afforded by its researches, and this knowledge 

 we endeavour to the best of our ability to reproduce for our 

 students in the south. 



