39 



were organised at Londonderry, Cookstown, Limavady, 

 and Omagii, and each of them, at its own request, was 

 affiliated to our Club. We encourage them by supply- 

 ing lecturers for some of their winter meetings, and 

 by holding joint field meetings with them in summer. 



* 



The excursions of the Club have not been without 

 their humorous incidents. Everyone has heard the 

 story of the pompous member who said to a labourer 

 digging in a held, "My good man, do you know of any 

 objects of botanical, geological, or archaeological in- 

 terest in this neighbourhood " The rustic looked at 

 him in silence for a moment, then said, "Sowl, you're a 

 lad!" spat on his hands, and went on with his digging. 



On an excursion to Glendun, the members of the 

 party collected a good number of ferns, Lastrea 

 Oreopteris being found in great profusion. Several 

 dozen plants of it were carried off, to the astonishment 

 of a native, who exclaimed, "Hi gie a poun' tae ony wan 

 who'll redd thon held o' the dirty bracken!" 



In 1871, on a visit to south Donegal, the driver of 

 the conveyance professed to know something of 

 geometry, and on one of the party asking him if he had 

 got over "the ass's bridge" (the 5th proposition of 

 Euclid) , he replied, "No, but a druv a pair of bays over 

 Connolly's bridge!" 



On one occasion a party of members dismounted 

 from their conveyance near a small village in a remote 

 part of the country. As customary, they set about 

 their respective hobbies, some gathering wild flowers 

 and plants, some chipping off chunks of rock, some 

 turning over stones in search of beetles, and probably 

 one or two, with nets, rushing madly after butterflies. 

 Of course, the curiosity of the villagers was aroused, 

 and an old woman was overheard saying to her 

 neighbour, "I wonder who they are?" "Och. ! they're 

 from an asylum," was the reply, ''and," pointing to the 

 conductor, "thon wan's the keeper!" 



* 



Naturally, as the name of the Club suggests, field 

 work forms a large part of its activities. From April 

 to September, excursions are held to places of interest 

 to the several Sections. Of course, the proportion of 



