306 



THE YOUNG 



NATUEALIST. 



good start, a dozen would be abundance, 

 and even three or four would have a 

 fair chance of success. These can be 

 easily obtained from among your com- 

 panions, schoolfellows, and workmates. 

 Next you want a President, and 

 naturalists are generally so ready to 

 help beginners that there will be no 

 difficulty here. Select some one you 

 know to be a practical working 

 naturalist, and ask him to accept the 

 post. Tell him you will not make very 

 much demand upon his time, and if he 

 sees you are in earnest he is sure to 

 consent to what you ask. If he have 

 children of his own, he is the more 

 likely to help you, and perhaps you 

 will get such of them for members as 

 may be of suitable age. A naturalist 

 parent generally has sons and daughters 

 of kindred tastes. 



Next the conditions of membership. 

 Should there be a subscription ? We 

 think not. Have an entrance fee, if you 

 like, but it should either be small, or 

 paid by small sums. No hindrance 

 should be thrown in the way of young 

 people joining by making it too costly > 

 When you are fairly established you 

 might invite some of your leading 

 naturalists, clergymen, interested in 

 the welfare of the young, and others, 

 to become patrons of your club, 

 or they might be called honorary 

 members. Perhaps your local M.P. 

 would aid you with a small subscription. 

 These people are asked freely — almost 

 too much so—to patronize and subscribe 

 to Cricket Clubs, Football Clubs, Boat- 

 ing Clubs, and the like, and a society 



like that we name is surely more de- 

 serving of aid than these. 



The object of each club should be to 

 organize and promote excursions to in- 

 vestigate the Natural History of the 

 immediate neighbourhood, and gradually 

 to extend the knowledge of its mem- 

 bers. In this matter the services of 

 President would be of great value, and 

 though he could not be expected to go 

 with the club on every excursion, he 

 would aid greatly in recommending 

 suitable places. 



If the members found they could 

 afford to pay a small subscription, they 

 might once a year or so, draw on this 

 fund to defray the expenses of an excur- 

 sion to some more distant place. 

 Money received from Patrons or 

 Honorary Members should be spent in 

 books. Works on Natural History, from 

 their limited circulation are necessarily 

 expensive, and it is better to have a few 

 good and useful books, than a shelf 

 full of what are sometimes called 

 Popular Natural Histories, and which 

 are often worthless compilations and 

 copies from other equally worthless 

 books. When further progress is made, 

 cabinets might be obtained and the 

 foundation laid for a Local Museum, 

 which is a most valuable institution. 



A place of meeting would be re- 

 quired, and this might be at each others 

 houses. Sometimes perhaps the Presi- 

 dent would allow the club to meet at 

 his house, when some of his collections 

 could be seen, or use made of his 

 library. If the club be established in 



