ADDRESS. 



Having now completed our First Volume — and with this issue 

 commenced our Second, — it maj be useful both to ourselves and to 

 our subscribers to review our past short history, and also to revert to 

 the future. As to the past : How have our promises and anticipa- 

 tions been fulfilled ? We proposed, as one of our objects, " to afford 

 a means of communication amongst all Natural History Societies, 

 either within or outside the boundaries of the county of York." We 

 may in this respect congratulate ourselves upon a fair success, as we 

 now report monthly the proceedings of eighteen Yorkshire Societies 

 and some half-dozen exterior Societies occasionally, and many of 

 these reports contain matters and observations of great interest. 



Of observations and notes inl Natural History, we have been 

 modg-rately successful in obtaining a fair share, considering the 

 number of our competitors. Some of these notes are of great value, 

 and without desiring to be in any way critical as to their merits, we 

 feel in duty bound to mention the contributions of our friends Messrs. 

 J. H. Gurney, Jun., Joseph Anderson, Jun., F. G. S, Rawson, 

 F. Arnold Lees, F.L.S., and Wm. Prest. 



A very important part of our last volume, though one not occu- 

 pying much space, is the monthly record of the Rainfall in this 

 district, kindly contributed by our friend Mr. J. W. Robson. Of 

 original articles, the " Birds of Wakefield," by Mi. Talbot of Wake- 

 field, is a valuable record of local ornithology ; and, amongst others 

 of great value, we may be allowed to mention specially Mr. J. 

 Bagnall's paper on the " Reproduction of Ferns and Mosses," 

 Mr. Thomas Tate's on the " Organization of Daphnia Pulex^' 

 Mr. Spencer's " Geology of the Halifax Hard-bed Coal," and Dr. 

 H. F. Parson's " Maritime Plants and Tidal Rivers of the West 

 Riding." In mentioning these valuable papers thus particularly we 

 do not for a moment undervalue those of our many other valued 

 correspondents, and we would here take the opportunity of thanking 

 them, one and all, for their kindly support and co-operation. 



. As to our future : We have promises of papers already for our 

 second volume of great value, which will appear in due course, and 

 N. S., Vol. il— -August, 1876. 



