8 



entertained him after the trial, drinking stout while 

 he drank only lemonade. He regaled them with the 

 Irish patriotic poetry of Thomas Davis "till they were 

 in tears," it is said, the entertainment ending in a 

 procession through the town of Orangemen "full of 

 patriotism and porter." 



* 



The intellectual life of Belfast in 1863 was con- 

 fined within a narrow circle. A Natural History 

 Society had been established in 1821 for "the culti- 

 vation of Zoology, Botany, and Mineralogy in all their 

 branches, more especially the investigation of the 

 Natural History and Antiquities of Ireland." Ten 

 years later (1831) the Society entered into occupation 

 of the special building which had been erected by public 

 subscription for the holding of its meetings, and to 

 house its collection of natural history and antiquarian 

 specimens. It should be mentioned that text-books, 

 compiled by a member of the Natural History Society, 

 Robert Patterson, F.R.S., did much to foster the study 

 of natural history in the schools of the period. In 

 1840 the Society adopted its present name — The 

 Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society. 

 Its membership in those early days included such 

 distinguished scientists as William Thompson, author 

 of "The Natural History of Ireland," and John Temple- 

 ton, one of the foremost naturalists of his time. 



In 1860 a few members of the Natural History and 

 Philosophical Society organised a course of scientific 

 lectures in Belfast under the Science and Art Depart- 

 ment, South Kensington. Professor Jukes, who 

 afterwards became Director of the Geological Society 

 of Ireland, and whose "Student's Manual of Geology," 

 edited by Geikie, is well-known to some of us, was 

 sent by the Department, and he delivered a series of 

 lectures on geology to classes of nearly four hundred. 

 The Natural History and Philosophical Society was 

 greatly encouraged by the interest shown, and decided 



