110 NATURALISTS FIELD CLUBS J 



our own Club should be expended in the attempt to do likewise. 

 As to these soirees I did not get much enlightenment from the 

 fair informant previously referred to. She said there was mostly 

 such a dreadful crush that no one could see anything. This 

 probably is the generally received standard of the success of a 

 conversazione, and I suppose that in that respect Manchester can 

 scarcely have surpassed some of our own experiences on a some- 

 what less ambitious scale. 



The objects of Naturalists' Field Clubs (at any rate of our 

 Club) may be said to be twofold : First, the study of Nature out 

 of doors, and (as being inseparably connected with this) the col- 

 lection of specimens for more minute examination at home — 

 secondly, the preservation of natural objects from wanton or 

 useless destruction. So important has our Club considered this 

 last part of its functions that the longest of its rules is especially 

 devoted to the subject, and enters into it with more minuteness 

 than is usual in such codes. But I am not aware that we have 

 as yet ever seen the way to any concerted action respecting it. 



As regards the out-of-doors study of Nature, the chief means 

 which we, as a Club, have adopted, has been that of field meet- 

 ings, and there seems very little improvement to suggest with 

 respect to them. They are, as all who have attended them well 

 know, very pleasant occasions : even a "juicy" day can scarcely 

 be said usually to throw much of a damp upon the proceedings, 

 and if we could ensure the attendance of those who are bent upon 

 work as well as those who want merely a day's genial relaxation, 

 there would be little left to desire. Our meetings have hitherto 

 been restricted entirely to places within the boundaries of North- 

 umberland and Durham, but we have no rule to that effect ; and 

 now that the facilities of railway travelling are so great, there 

 seems to be no valid reason why our rambles should not occasion- 

 ally be extended to more distant localities. It is true that the 

 country near our doors demands the first attention, and should 

 always — until we have pumped it completely dry — have the main 

 share of it ; but we must remember that the boundary lines laid 

 down upon maps have often no existence in Nature, and such is 

 the case, to some extent, in our own region. Moreover, our 



