35 



The paper was well illustrated by diagrams and specimens of 

 lava and other volcanic productions. It was supplemented by re- 

 marks from the Eev. C. Bosanquet, Mr. Scholey, the Secretary, 

 and one or two others. 



August 6th, 1884. 



The Session was brought to a close by a Field Day at Lydden 

 Spout, a picturesque spot at the foot of the cliffs between Folke- 

 stone and Dover. By. the kindness of the S.E.R. Company the 

 1.24 train from Folkestone halted at the Spout to allow members 

 to alight. 



In the course of the afternoon the Secretary read the following 

 paper : — 



In the very short paper which I am to read to-day it will be my 

 object not so much to write on any one particular branch or division 

 of Natural History, as to give hints or make suggestions which each 

 mind may follow out as it chooses. The lecture room and. the 

 evening meeting are good for summing up and pondering over 

 what has been done ; the field day is best spent by getting a 

 personal practical acquaintance with the facts of Nature for our- 

 selves. To learn ivhat to look for, and how to look for it, to recognize 

 it when we see it, — not so simple a task as it might appear — and 

 then to put these facts and phenomena together and ask ; What do 

 they mean ? — That I take it is the best way to reap advantage from 

 meetings such as these. 



Our locality is, as most of you know, one specially favoured by 

 nature, there is scarcely any branch of Natural History which may 

 not be practically studied at Folkestone with exceptional success. 

 And so it has become, especially to London naturalists, a kind of 

 El Dorado, and all day long, through all the too short summer, we 

 see the geologist's hammer, the entomologist's net, and the botanist's 

 vasculum called into action. 



And certainly on the spot where we are now gathered, most of 

 these advantages are concentrated. I have no doubt we shall very 

 quickly resolve ourselves into small compact bodies, each led away 

 by some special study. 



To the geologist, to any one who recognises that the earth around 

 him is full of secrets, these perpendicular cliffs must be suggestive 

 of many thoughts — forming, as they do, the very edge, the boundary 



