21 



The Club held its first Field Meeting at Island- 

 magee on 6th April, 1863. Members and friends to 

 the number of eighty-eight went by train to Ballycarry 

 station. The Lias beds near Barney's Point were 

 visited, and the characteristic fossils of the formation 

 obtained in abundance. Mr. Tate and William Gray 

 appear to have acted as conductors. 



The second excursion was to Lough Neagh, the 

 third to Castle Espie, and subsequently visits were paid 

 to Drumbo and the Giant's Ring, Carrickfergus, 

 Magilligan and Benevenagh, Whitehead, and Woodburn 

 Glen. 



During the winter eight meetings were held, and 

 it is interesting to note who were the readers of 

 papers and their subjects : — Mr. Chew ('The aim and 

 progress of the Club"), Mr. Tate ("The Geographical 

 Distribution of the Plants around Belfast"), Mr. 

 Stewart ("The occurrence of some rare and little 

 known plants in the Belfast district"), Mr. Forrester 

 ("Some Remarks on the Wheat Plant"),, Mr. Robert 

 Workman, B.A. ("British Forest Trees"), Mr. Holden 

 ("Some connecting links between plants and animals"), 

 Mr. W. H. Patterson ("An Account of Lough Neagh, 

 historical and physical, with a notice of some of iFs 

 Fishes"), Mr. Tate ("The correlation of Liassic strata 

 of Belfast with those cf England and the Continent"), 

 and Mr. T. H. Browne ("Nineveh and its remains"). 



In the following Spring the Club lost the services 

 of both its first Secretaries, Mr. Chew leaving for 

 London, to occupy a new business position there, and 

 Mr. Tate to enter on the Assistant Secretaryship of the 

 Geological Society. Of Mr. Chew we hear nothing 

 more, but Mr. Tate's subsequent career is worthy of 

 record. His official connection with the Geological 

 Society did not last long, for we soon find him making 

 a geological and mining survey of a South American 

 State, and not long after he received an appointment 

 worthy of his abilities, the Professorship of Natural 

 Science in the University of Adelaide, South Australia, 

 which he held until his death in 1901 or 1902. In 1869 

 he visited Belfast, and joined in a Club excursion to 

 Larne and Islandmagee, and again in 1896 he paid a 

 visit to the North of Ireland. 



In the second year of the Club's existence a dis- 

 tinguished man became a member, Professor Wyville 



