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NOTES AND COMMENTS. 
LOCAL SOCIETIES. 
At the recent Conference of Delegates of Corresponding 
Societies of the British Association, held at Havre, Mr. John 
Hopkinson. F.L.S., F.G.S., read a paper on ‘ Local Natural 
History Societies and their Publications.’ He said, ' I use 
the term • Natural History” in its widest sense, as covering the 
whole of Nature, on, beneath, and immediately above the 
surface of our earth, and therefore including geology and 
meteorology. The term “ local ” restricts the inquiry to societ- 
ies which are formed to investigate the Natural History of a 
particular area, such area in England usually being a county. 
When the county is large, a number of local societies, having 
their own independent organisation, may federate, forming 
one composite society, such as the Yorkshire Naturalists’ 
Union ; and the several societies in a number of counties may 
also do so, for example, the South-Eastern Union of Scientific 
Societies.’ 
THEIR WORK 
‘ I would therefore restrict the term “ Local Natural History 
Society” to those formed to investigate the Natural History 
of their locality, and no others I submit have a raison d'etre. 
How then can this object best be accomplished ? It would be 
impossible to form such a society without suitable material ; 
men or women who study Nature. To bring them together 
the subscription should not be high, nor should there be any 
distinction of class. All naturalists, whatever their social 
position may be, should be welcomed and should be invited to 
bring before their society the subject of their special study. 
The next essential is an efficient secretary, who, besides having 
the general management of the society, should study its mem- 
bers, pick out the workers, and induce them to lay the result 
of their investigations before the society.’ 
APPORTIONED. 
‘ At first the result may be desultory, but in course of time 
it will probably become more and more systematic. Thus one 
member may be induced not only to take meteorological 
observations, but also to undertake the duty of meteorological 
recorder, collecting the observations of others, and in every 
county or nearly so, there is a more or less numerous army of 
rainfall observers. Another may act as geological recorder, 
describing sections and photographing them, especially those 
of a temporary nature. Yet another may be an ornithologist, 
the camera here again being most useful, and he should be 
induced to give to the society an annual report on the birds 
which not only has he observed himself, but also including the 
observations of his correspondents. The most popular of the 
1914 Oct. 1. 
T 
