YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS AT HALIFAX. 



Halifax has long' been known as an active scientific centre in 

 the county, and on the occasion of the Forty-sixth Annual 

 Meeting- held there on December 14th, there was every evidence 

 of its reputation being kept. Notwithstanding- the most miser- 

 able of weather, members and delegates assembled from every 

 quarter of the county, there being representatives from no fewer 

 than forty affiliated societies at the general meeting held in the 

 afternoon. 



Those arriving early in the day took part in the excursions 

 which had been arranged. The geologists, under the guidance 

 of Mr. W. Simpson and Mr. W. Fielding, climbed Beacon Hill 

 and visited Southowram, where some quarries were examined, 

 and characteristic Carboniferous fossils secured. Other mem- 

 bers visited the Natural History Museum, under the guidance 

 of Mr. W. B. Crump, M.A., one of the honorary curators. 



Early in the afternoon the various sectional meetings were 

 held, when the officers for 1908 were recommended for election. 

 The Forty-sixth Annual Report, which was presented by the 

 secretary, shewed that in m.any of the sections and committees 

 work of exceptional value had been accomplished. The Wild 

 Birds and Eggs Protection Committee had done practical work 

 by securing subscriptions for the payment of watchers at Spurn 

 Point and other places in the county, with the result that many 

 species of rare birds, which had been on the point of extermina- 

 tion, had increased in numbers. The Committee of Suggestions 

 for Research also had made some excellent suggestions for 

 future work, including the thorough investigation of Thorne 

 Waste, one of the few remaining tracts of common left in the 

 county, and even it is quickly disappearing. 



The excursions for the year were fixed as follows : — May 

 i6th, Topcliffe ; Whit w^eek-end, June 6th to 8th, Hornsea ; 

 July 16th (Thursday), Hampole ; Bank-Holiday week-end, 

 August ist to 3rd, Osmotherley ; week-end, September 5th to 

 7th, Clapham ; and the annual Fungus Foray will be held at 

 Mulgrave Woods, September 19th to 24th. The next Annual 

 Meeting of the Union will be held at Doncaster, by the invitation 

 of the Doncaster naturalists. 



The officers for the ensuing year w^ere elected as follows : — 

 President, Dr. Wheelton Hind ; Treasurer, Mr. H. Culpin ; Hon. 

 Secretary, Mr. T. Sheppard. The following are the presidents 

 of the Sections and Committees : — Vertebrate Zoology, R. For- 



1908 January i. 



