512 Our Field Clubs, &c. [Oct., 



encouraged to proceed zealously with studies which otherwise 

 would not have been entered upon ; whilst some of the collections 

 sent in for our annual prizes have far surpassed all our expectations." 

 "Large numbers join our excursions who are not particularly 

 interested in any branch of natural science, and this is just what 

 the chief object of our Club renders a desirable circumstance. The 

 busy appearance of our workers, who often come in when tea is 

 half over, flushed with exercise and animated with success, is a 

 suggestive lesson to others who may be found waiting at the door 

 of our meeting room half-an-hour or even an hour before the 

 appointed time ; a lesson on the difference of the amount of pleasure 

 afforded by a walk with a special object, and a walk without one." 

 " Our numerical strength gives to our most valued members 

 facilities for visiting localities at great distances, on terms which 

 could not otherwise be obtained. We are able to engage a special 

 train and make a journey of 160 miles in a day, at a cost, including 

 a substantial dinner-tea, of about seven shillings each, allowing 

 five hours for work at the locality visited." 



Naturalists' Societies now in operation in Great Britain have 

 upon their hsts probably not fewer than 4,000 members : we may 

 safely add an equal number to represent professors, students, 

 collectors, and others not connected with any society, yet more or 

 less actively engaged in the same pursuit, Such a company should 

 be able to give a good account of the natural history of their own 

 country, yet many interesting branches have been all but wholly 

 neglected, and some are at present without even a moderately useful 

 Handbook, e. g. The Fresh-water Algae, the Annelids, and the 

 Centipedes : but even in the pursuits which are most popular, much 

 remains to be done. Members of Naturalists' Societies must be 

 aware that a question is pending which in Zoology and Botany 

 may open a field for investigation, comparatively, as vast as that 

 annexed to astronomy by the invention of the telescope. Yet it is 

 a marvel how few direct their efforts towards the acquisition of 

 evidence for or against the hypothesis of the origin of species by 

 natural selection. Facts well authenticated and chosen with dis- 

 crimination on either side are equally and, at present, pre-eminently, 

 the desiderata of natural science. 



