87 
natural history. The pursuit of angling, moreover, has ever 
been found favourable to the development of the philosophic 
mind. The quiet contemplativeness, which is its necessary 
accompaniment; the solitude of romantic scenes, where the 
stillness is unbroken, save by the cadences of the stream, 
the cry of birds, the hum of insects, the rippling vegeta- 
tion, or the slowly-passing cloud casting its shadow on 
the solemn hillside or on the sunlit pool, are conditions 
which not only enable the mind to shake itself free from 
crystallising tendencies, but provide recreation which is 
peculiarly effective, according to all experience, in re- 
invigorating and giving tone to the mental faculties which 
have been exhausted by severe strain. I need scarcely 
refer to Sir Humphrey Davy, an angler from his youth, and 
the author of a classic book on the subject, in illustration : 
but it is not generally known that a contemporary investi- 
gator, who has opened up for us a new world of science — 
M. Louis Pasteur — was an angler as a student, and still finds 
rest and refreshment in ‘^the contemplative man’s recreation.” 
I desire also to direct attention to the district as eminently 
suitable for excursions by the British Association during 
the forthcoming Manchester meeting. 
The operations of the Manchester Anglers’ Association 
are carried on amidst scenes full of scientific interest. 
It was amidst the beautiful and awe-inspiring dales 
of this district that the ancestors of our great Faraday, 
on the male and female side, lived, for at least a 
century before his birth, and developed those mental and 
religious qualities which found a culminating expression 
in him. Though now used as a cottage, there still stands 
the humble Sandemanian chapel in which his father and 
mother worshipped, and to which may undoubtedly be 
traced the peculiar beliefs and observances which so largely 
influenced his own life and work. The dale in which the 
