The Scottish Naturalist. 



251 



in the Natural History Museum, the first given by the Mayor and 

 Corporation of Newcastle, the second by the Local Executive 

 Committee. These were attended not only by almost all the 

 members, but by all the elite of Newcastle and vicinity ; both 

 were very numerously attended, and were very brilliant and 

 successful gatherings. On three of the other evenings there were 

 lectures in the Drill Hall, — the first, on the evening of the 13th, 

 by Prof. Robert Austen of the Royal Mint, on the Hardening 

 and Tempering Of Steel ; the second, on Saturday the 14th, 

 by Mr. Benjamin Baker, on the Forth Bridge; and the third, on 

 Monday the 16th, On how Plants maintain themselves 

 in the Struggle for Existence, by Mr. Walter Gardiner of 

 Cambridge. On Sunday, the 15th, there were Special Services 

 in all the Churches and Chapels, the preachers being mostly from 

 a distance, and all men of mark in their respective bodies. The 

 afternoon of Saturday the 14th, and the whole of Thursday the 

 19th, were devoted to Excursions. There were ten on Saturday, 

 and twelve on Thursday ; and they embraced all the objects of 

 scientific or popular interest within upwards of fifty miles. At 

 most of the places luncheon and tea were provided by some 

 generous residents in the locality, and special trains were the usual 

 mode of conveyance. A large number of ship-building and 

 engineering works, collieries, glass works, lead works, breweries, 

 chemical works, paper works, acid manufactories, etc., were also 

 open at certain times, and under certain regulations, to the mem- 

 bers ; and the writer was fortunate in obtaining a ticket for an in- 

 spection of the OrdnanceWorks of Armstrong, Mitchell, & Co. This 

 establishment, which is the largest of the kind in the British Islands, 

 employs about 10,000 workmen ; and turns out the most modern 

 kinds of large and small cannon, with every kind of machinery 

 for working, controlling, and protecting them. In parties of ten 

 the visitors, to the number of about 250 in all, were shown over 

 most of the workshops by a foreman, and on every side were 

 heard expressions of wonder and delight at the huge pieces of 

 gun-barrels in various stages of progress, or the tiny quick-firing 

 gun, which throws its 100 balls in a minute ; or at the turrets and 

 shields for protecting the artillerymen, or at the ingenious machines 

 and tools by which such complicated work is effected. 



In point of numbers the meeting of 1889 has been fairly 

 successful, the attendance being : — Old Life members, 278 ; New 



