THE yOUNG 



NATUEALIST. 



15 



best time and place to secure for the 

 cabinet our little stranger P. tmdatus. 

 Stonehouse, Plymouth, 17th November, 1882. 



AN ANNUAL GATHERING. 



We shall miss, in the changed form of 

 the Yoiing Naturalist, the frequent opportu- 

 nity for gossipping with our readers on any 

 subject that seems important enough to 

 deserve a few passing words. But perhaps 

 the time would have arrived when the 

 opportunity for a gossip came too often for 

 new subjects to be found to write about or 

 new suggestions to ofier, and it may have 

 { been well that the change was made before 

 the subjects for a chat were exhausted, if 

 such a thing were possible. They are 

 certainly not exhausted yet, and though 

 many suggestions we have from time to 

 time made to our readers, have been pro- 

 ductive of no result that we know of, others 

 have been adopted with more or less advan- 

 tage. We are about to make another sug- 

 gestion that we hope will be taken up by 

 our readers and carried into effect. How 

 many of us are there, who, living in distant 

 localities, have for years corresponded with 

 kindred spirits in other places, but have 

 never yet had the pleasure of looking the 

 one upon the other's face ; of exchanging a 

 good warm grasp of hands ; of having a few 

 words of personal intercourse ; of parting 

 with kindly good wishes, and a feeling that 

 they knew each other better, now that they 

 had seen "what manner of man" their 

 correspondent was. How many of us are 

 there who, when one known by name only 

 has passed away from among us, have 

 wished they had known him personally. 

 To those who live near the great centres 

 thoughts like these perhaps do not often 

 occur ; but it is different with the isolated 

 collector, who works away from year to year 

 from pure love of his pursuit ; without a 

 human voice ever cheering him on his way ; 



without an appreciative eye ever looking 

 over his accumulated treasures, correcting 

 his errors, and taking note of his discoveries. 

 To him the chance of meeting with a brother 

 collector, and exchanging ideas, would be 

 almost as great a pleasure as the discovery 

 of a new species. This desire for personal 

 intercourse has led to the arrangement by 

 most of societies, for annual or more frequent 

 gatherings of their members at field meet- 

 ings, at conversaziones, &c. Our present 

 idea is that an annual or bi-annual excursion 

 might be arranged among the readers of the 

 Young Naturalist at some well-known and 

 easily-accessible locality, where a few hours 

 collecting could be pursued in company, 

 and the personal acquaintance made of 

 those who attended them. If the place 

 afforded suitable accommodation, an even- 

 ing meeting might be held, where papers 

 could be read and discussions or conversa- 

 tion follow ; where specimens might be 

 exhibited, unknown captures named, and 

 mutual assistance rendered in many ways. 



Apart from the individual gratification of 

 such personal intercourse, which is the only 

 point we have dwelt on so far, we can see 

 that many scientific advantages might accrue 

 from such a gathering. We have often 

 dwelt, in these articles, on the great impor- 

 tance of the various forms that even com- 

 mon species assume, being more carefully 

 studied. We have often referred to some 

 particular species of which local races were 

 unusually well defined. But in speaking of 

 these things the writer's somewhat limited 

 ^acquaintance with the subject matter, neces- 

 sarily prevented all being said that could 

 have been said with advantage. In speaking 

 of local forms of any species, perhaps the 

 most important or best marked of such 

 races had never come under his observation. 

 At a gathering such as we speak of now, it 

 might be arranged that all attending it 

 should bring with them a good series of 

 certain species if they occurred with them. 



