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devotion to the Creator. The speaker then adverted to the division of the 
Sciences into the exact, the experimental, and the observational, remarking 
that he considered the sciences of observation most worthy of general 
cultivation — though he was personally devoted to the exact sciences — 
because they could be pursued, as had been done that day, in the open 
air — where all the senses were delighted at once, and God was more 
visibly present. The Canon concluded by congratulating the Society on 
the adoption of this department of science, and expressing his earnest 
hopes for its successful continuance. 
Shortly after rising from table, the members adjourned to the Railway 
station, and took the evening train to Bristol, after one of the most plea- 
sant and least fatiguing excursions ever undertaken by the Society. 
MEETINGS OF SECTIONS. 
BOTANICAL SECTION 
Wednesday, June 2/. — The members of this Section met at the 
Bath Bridge, for the purpose of investigating the east end of St. Ann's 
Wood, Brislington, one of last year's walks having been taken through the 
lower portion. Upon entering the valley, the eye was struck with the 
fertility of the vegetation, and the picturesque beauty of the scene. 
Scattered among the banks were the faintly smelling flowers of Valeriana 
officinalis, amid gigantic specimens of Heracleum sphondylium, while here 
and there were seen the half-opened blossoms of Spiraea Ulmaria. The 
tall, handsome spikes of Digitalis purpurea, formed bright spots in the 
landscape, relieved occasionally by the golden flowers of Tragopogon 
pratensis. Less observable were the plants of Symphytum officinale near 
the stream, and in other situations Bunium flexuosum and Epilobium 
montanum, the steep banks being carpeted with the delicate Oxalis 
acetosella and Fragaria Vesca, the latter in flower and fruit, interspersed 
with Lysimachia nemorum. Further up the valley were found Vicia sativa 
and V. sepium, and near the railway Onobrychis sativa, Knautia arvensis 
and Silene inflata, also a plant of Solanum dulcamara. A heavy thunder- 
storm coming on in the afternoon, put a stop to the investigations at an 
early hour. 
