Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club. 3925 



ing had been held at Otterburn, on the 28th of September, on the hospitable invitation 

 of Mr. Coward. That was a vicinity full of ancient memorials. Besides the Koman 

 camp, at which such interesting discoveries had recently been made, and which had 

 formed the subject of a paper read to the Club by Mr. Kell, there was Elsdon, where the 

 family of Umfreville had once their tower of strength, and, besides many sylvan ob- 

 jects, there were all the martial memories of Otterburn, that still live in tradition, and 

 " look green in song." The worthy Archdeacon then remarked that it was strictly within 

 the objects of this Club, to cultivate a knowledge of local antiquities ; its members in 

 their excursions, which were often taken in places remote from the frequented paths of 

 men, had opportunities of collecting local tradition, and of visiting localities which had 

 been the scenes of historical events, or had been marked by buildings of which the ma- 

 terial traces were fast disappearing. In the buildings and monuments which it was 

 the province of the archaeologist to investigate, the history of the country and its for- 

 mer inhabitants was written, and a rich field of usefulness, as well as rational pleasure, 

 was open to a Club which combined such investigations with the immediate pursuits 

 of the naturalist. As to these, the Ven. President pointed out several plants that were 

 to be found in the neighbourhood of the city of Durham, and the birds whose notes 

 gladdened the inhabitants from April to September. He urged members to avail 

 themselves of the health-giving pleasures which the social meetings of the Club in ru- 

 ral localities afforded, and to make every step in their field-walks a step in the path of 

 wisdom, and an approach towards such knowledge as our finite comprehension could 

 attain of the great Auther of nature, the Infinite and All-wise. 



The eloquent and appropriate Address of the Ven. President was received with 

 cordial applause ; he however omitted to state therein, that he had himself entertained 

 the members at dinner, on the occasion of their visit to Bamburgh Castle, — a visit, 

 the pleasures of which were greatly enhanced by courteous hospitality. 



The President then read a statement of plants and insects, new to the district, which 

 had been met with during the year. Of the latter, Mr. J. T. Bold exhibited some of 

 the rarer species of Hydroporus: namely, H. rufifrons, Dup., taken at Boldon Flats; 

 H. Gyllenhalii, Schiodte, from Gosforth ; H. tristis, Payle., from Prestwick Car; H. 

 obscurus, Sturm, from Gosforth and Prestwick Car ; and a small obscure species, 

 apparently unrecorded as British, which was met with in some plenty at Gosforth, in 

 company with H. angustatus. The same gentleman exhibited a few of the wild bees 

 of the district; also, some very interesting Coleoptera, mostly taken in Cumberland, 

 including a fine series of a large, dark variety of Hydroporus elegans (?), from Talkin 

 Tarn. A series of Aphodius Lapponum, and three specimens of A. alpinus, Scop., 

 from Tindal Fell. Single specimens of Ips quadripustulata, Oomorphus concolor and 

 Scymnus nigrinus ; the first and last captured near Gosforth. Another rarity was a 

 specimen of the true Blaps mortisaga, Linn., taken in Scotland. 



Part 2 vol. ii. of the Club's ' Transactions,' and part 3 (the concluding one) of 

 Messrs. Hardy and Bold's ' Catalogue of the Coleoptera of Northumberland and Dur- 

 ham,' were on the table and distributed to the members. 



The meeting terminated by the election of officers for the year, Sir W. C. Trevelyan 

 being unanimously voted President. 



