April, 1917. The Queensland Naturalist. 
47 
THE FIEU) NATURALISTS’ CLUB.-HTS SCOPE AND 
POSSIBILITIES. 
By Freda Bage, M.Sc., F.L.S. 
Presidential Address, February, 1915. 
As any anniversary arrives, we find ourselves uncon- 
sciously pausing to think of the year past, and of that to come, 
and it seems to me that the annual meeting of a club is such 
an anniversary — a time to take breath as it were, andtc look 
back at the view presented to us of our year’s work, before 
continuing our journey. From our view-point, we shall 
see if we have kept to the aims and objects of our Club, and. 
if necessary, shad be able to set those objects once more 
clearly in front of us as our goal. 
The past year has again been a successful one. The 
Club, in spite of the troublous times through which we are 
passing, has continued to fill a niche in the lives of its members. 
We have tried, in a small way, to help a patriotic fund. A 
bond of good-feUowship continues to exist between members 
of the Club, and those who know are alwa 3 ^s ready to help 
those who do not know. 
In joining such a Club as ours, we show that we have 
a certain love of Nature. We wish to learn a little more 
about animals or plants or rocks, and to get into touch 
with those who have like interests. Such a Club is to a 
very large extent a hobby for most of us. Each member, 
as he joins, finds something to interest him — excursions, 
papers, exhibits of specimens, any or all of which fascinate 
liim, whether he comes as a lover of Nature with a knowledge 
born of patient observation, as a student or teacher with 
a hard-earned laboratory knowledge of plants or animals, 
or as an interested beginner. All activities of the Club, arc 
as I have said, fascinating ; but I wonder if we all realise 
quite how much our. Club can and should stand for. Do 
not most of us come to the Club meetings or excursions for 
recreation, just to swallow whole what is provided for us 
by a hard-worked committee, or b^^ a few energetic members 
who are ready to inform us on any or every subject, without 
our even troubling to ask questions ? It seems to me that 
for a Club to be effective, to mean much to all members, 
and to the community, something more is needed than this. 
Let us look at our main activities. 
