4 
lirst time, been entirely devoted to field meetings and excursions, 
and to onr doings during this vacation I must ask you to allow me 
to devote a few minutes. 
Ihe sixth section of the tabulated objects of our Society enumerates 
amongst other means of prosecuting the “Practical study of 
Natural bcience, ’ the holding of field meetings and excursions ; 
and, carrying out the letter of the law, we have visited since the 
formation of the Society many a charming nook together, and 
enjoyed in several instances the kind hospitality of our country 
members. These meetings have also brought together many avIio 
would not otherwise have met, and I trust not a few friendships 
have thus been formed which will be of lasting benefit both to 
ourselves, and in the extension of the objects which we have in 
view. As a rule, I fear, these outings, however delightful in 
themselves, have not been very productive in scientific results, 
brom purely geological excursions we are precluded, and botany is 
the only field which can be advantageously prosecuted on these 
occasions : thus it is the botanists who have always been most 
successful. During the past year, however, there has been one 
notable exception to this rule, to which I wish to call your especial 
attention. I refer to the visit paid by the Society to Cambridge on 
the 22nd Ma}^, by invitation of Professor Neivton. On arriving at 
Cambridge we ivere met at the Eailway Station by Professor 
Hughes, who very kindly conducted a section of the party over the 
celebrated coprolite jhts at Barnwell. The remainder proceeded 
direct to the Zoological IMuseum, and were received by Professor 
Newton, who exhibited to us the ornithological portion of his 
museum, pointing out and expatiating upon many of the treasures 
contained in the rich collections. After showing us the most 
perfect skeleton existing of the Dodo of Mauritius and of its cousin the 
Solitaire of Eodriguez, and saying that Eeunion (formerly Bourbon) 
once had another and no doubt perfectly distinct Didine bird, 
which fact we know from the accounts left us by early navigators, 
though as yet not a fragment of its remains have been recovered. 
Professor Newton proceeded to observe that the existence of 
representative forms in Madagascar, and in what have of late been 
