JEESIDENTS'S ADDEE8S. 195 



there can be no donbt, nor that the manufacture on a consider- 

 able scale was carried on, for I find from the records of the 

 Custom House at Blyth that in the Michaelmas quarter of 1723, 

 1962 tons of salt were exported from the then small harbour and 

 port of CuUercoats. 



Leaving the Salt Works the party proceeded along the shore 

 towards the Tyne Pier works, and so to CuUercoats, where tea 

 was provided at the Huddlestone Arms. After tea Mr. Clarke 

 read the paper, already referred to, on the Caves of Yorkshire 

 and the features of the Craven District. 



So ended our Field Meetings for 1882. 



1 have often wished that our out-door gatherings were of more 

 practical use, in an educational point of view, than they are ; 

 and that by some arrangement some one or more friends con- 

 versant with the special features of the I^atural History of the 

 place to be visited could always be the leader and guide, or 

 guides, of those who wished to add to their store of knowledge. 

 If by any means this could be done I am sure it would add at 

 once to the usefulness and the popularity of the Club. No field 

 which comes within the scope of the Naturalist's work but affords 

 "fresh fields and pastures, ever new," for his research and his 

 labour. Take, for example. Botany. I cannot claim any special 

 or deep knowledge of this subject, and I am quite sure that 

 many members of our Club have a far greater and more accurate 

 acquaintance with that interesting study than. I have, but pos- 

 sibly I may still be pardoned if I venture to present a few 

 thoughts which have occurred to me. 



"When in Switzerland last year my attention was drawn to 

 what is, to me, a deeply interesting branch of the botanist's 

 labour, and one, as far as I. know, almost unworked. It is the 

 infiuence which man has exercised. on Plant life. Yiewed from 

 one point a moment's consideration will show that this is obvious 

 enough, but in another the facts are far less striking, though 

 possibly more instructive. 



In centuries long long passed away how different an aspect 

 did these islands present in their woodland scenery. Many of 



