158 



The Naturalist. 



number of plants were produced 

 and namedj amongst which was the 

 pretty wood anemone in full bloom. 



North Staffordshire Natu- 

 ralists' Field Club. — Annual 

 Meeting, March 16th, at Stoke, the 

 president, Mr. J. Ward, F;G.S., in 

 the chair, — The hon. treasurer, Mr. 

 W. D. Spanton, read the annual 

 financial statement, showing a bal- 

 ance in hand of £16 16s. The hon. 

 secretary (Rev. T. W. Daltry, 

 F.L.S.) read the eleventh annual 

 report of the committee, from 

 which it appeared that the Club 

 continues prosperous. The past 

 year had witnessed the accomplish- 

 ment of two events, which would 

 exercise a considerable influence 

 over the affairs of the Club. 

 In the course of the summer 

 the volume of selections was 

 published, and the latter end of 

 the year had been marked by the 

 introduction of a system of sections 

 into the operations of the Club. 

 The remainder of the committee's 

 report consisted of a resume of the 

 reports of the excursions, the meet- 

 ings, and the papers read by mem- 

 bers. The following officers were 

 appointed : president, Mr. F. W. 

 Molyneux, F.G.S. ; treasurer, 

 W. D. Spanton ; secretary, Rev. 

 T. W. Daltry. The retiring presi- 

 dent then read his address, of 

 which we give a condensation. He 

 commenced by taking a retrospec- 

 tive view of the work done by the 

 Club in the past, and briefly refer- 

 ring to the many valuable papers on 

 archaeology, geology, botany, and 

 other branches of natural history 

 which had been brought before the 



Club. He spoke in praiseworthy 

 terms of the volume of selections 

 recently published, and compli- 

 mented Mr. Cherry, the honorary 

 editor, on the care he had taken in 

 its compilation. Remarking that 

 clubs of this kind were valuable 

 nurseries for teaching the rudiments 

 of science, the president proceeded 

 to show what an ample field there 

 was aflbrded for investigation in 

 the animal and vegetable world, 

 and how an interchange of thought, 

 so necessary to a full inquiry of this 

 kind, was brought about by means 

 of field clubs. He advocated the 

 division [of members into sections, 

 each section to be led . by some 

 person well qualified to instruct in 

 one or more special branches of 

 science ; and exhorted all the mem- 

 bers to be more diligent in the 

 pursuit of science, so that it might 

 not be said their excursions were 

 only cheerful pic-nics. — The paper 

 contained an ample resitme of the 

 geology of the district. — T. W. 

 Daltry, Hon. Sec. 



Rastrick and Brighoube Natu- 

 ralists' Society. — Meeting 13th 

 March, the president, Mr. Edwin 

 Whiteley, in the chair. — There was 

 a very good collection of specimens, 

 botany, geology, entomology, lepi- 

 doptera, coleox)tera and conchology 

 being all well represented. After 

 some preliminary business concern- 

 ing the revision of the Society's 

 rules, Mr. G. B. Wentworth named 

 the specimens of botany, 51 of 

 which were upon the table. Mr. B. 

 Brummitt named a number of 

 exotic ferns and flowering plants. 

 Mr. W. Kaye exhibited some 



