MIDLAND UNION OF NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETIES. 
169 
MIDLAND UNION OF NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETIES. 
TAMWOKTH MEETING, JUNE 12th, 1883. 
ADDRESS BY EGBERT DE HAMEL, ESQ., 
President op the Union. 
We have assembled this afternoon to celebrate the Sixth Annual 
Meeting of the Midland Union of Natural History Societies, an 
association which, as recorded on the first page and opening lines 
of the Union archives, derived its initiative, its first idea, developed 
in 1878, from the fact that early in 1874 the Tamworth Natural 
History, Geological, and Antiquarian Society held a very successful 
soiree, in which the Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical 
Society took a part. That Meeting (as the record further states) was 
in every way so satisfactory and gave such proofs of the value of 
co-operation, that many who attended it expressed a desire for more 
instances of a like kind, and thus we may fairly claim that to the 
local society (over which I have the honour this year to preside, and 
in whose name I now most heartily bid you welcome to Tamworth), 
the Union owes its birth, and it is pleasant to find that this body in 
its manhood is revisiting the scene of its infancy. 
Then, as now, our near neighbour, the Birmingham Microscopical 
Society, came forward in response to an appeal for scientific 
assistance and placed a choice collection of their best instruments 
and most carefully selected objects at the service of those who 
attended and will attend our conversazione. So gratifying was the 
result, so agreeable the friendships then formed, that the original 
idea of co-operation has been followed up from this small nucleus 
until twenty-two societies, with an aggregate member roll of about 
2,500 persons, all more or less bound together by the common tie, of 
scientific pursuits, have joined its banner, and that admirable journal 
“ The Midland Naturalist ” (which deserves a higher appreciation 
and far wider circulation than I fear it enjoys) sprang into existence. 
Nor are these the only advantages that are to be derived from the 
Union, for at its Annual Meetings many men of similar scientific 
tastes are brought together and made acquainted. Dredging Parties 
under the auspices of the Birmingham Microscopical Society afford 
excursions on a princely scale, and ransacking the ocean’s bed display 
to the enchanted participants an insight that it is impossible to 
overpraise into some of Nature’s loveliest living objects; whilst 
smaller expeditions into the various districts over which the Union 
extends its branches (not the least important amongst which are those 
connected with our annual gathering), introduce those who are 
