ACCOUNT OF THE GENERAL MEETINGS AND ANNUAL MEETING. 65 
had referred in eulogistic terms. The building had not come into 
existence when the Bristol Naturalists' Society commenced its 
work, but the Bristol Institution in Park Street, founded at a much 
earlier date, served as a rallying point for those with scientific 
tastes, and many Bristolians can recall boyhood hours spent in 
examining its collection of exhibits. The removal to Queen's 
Road took place in 187 1, but while a vast array of treasures was 
collected from various parts of the world, the institution was 
always handicapped by want of funds, and it was not until the 
late Sir Charles Wathen had cleared it of liability and handed it 
over to the city that the Museum began that development w 7 hich 
has produced such excellent results under the enthusiastic superin- 
tendence of Mr. Bolton. It would now be a revelation to some 
of the older citizens who joined in the promotion of the Naturalists' 
Society, and whose ideas of a museum were based on the condi- 
tions with which they were familiar in their early life. In the 
Bristol Museum to-day the artist as well as the taxidermist plays 
an important part and the skill of the painter is able to supply a 
panoramic background, giving an idea of the habitat of the 
creature exhibited. Some of the cases now on view are fine 
examples of this combination of effort, but, great though the 
advance has been, it is scarcely a secret that the institution is badly 
in want of more room. There are hundreds of treasures never 
seen by the public because, literally, there is no space in which to 
display them. An excellent opportunity presents itself for private 
generosity, which has done much for the Museum, to supplement 
the efforts of the Civic Committee. Demonstrations were given in 
several of the departments of the Museum after the speech-making 
in the Lecture Theatre was over. In the Geological Room Dr. 
Lloyd Morgan dealt with ' Local Caves and their Ancient 
Inhabitants ' ; and he was followed by some comments by 
Professor S. H. Reynolds on 'Fossil Reptiles,' of which the 
section has a number of excellent examples. Mr. G. C. Griffiths 
discoursed on ' Butterflies,' in the Greville Smyth Room, and 
Dr. O. V. Darbishire on 'Seaweeds,' in the Dame Emily Smyth 
Room. In these instances also the rich array of exhibits of the 
Museum supplied a great variety of subjects." 
THE SUMMER EXCURSION. 
June 14th, 1913. 
(Western Daily Press, June 17th, 1913). 
" The summer excursion of the Bristol Naturalists' Society took 
place on Saturday afternoon, when a goodly number of members 
left Temple Meads station by the 1.33 train for Wrington, where 
they were joined by others who had travelled by bicycle or motor. 
E 
