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SOCIOLOGY. 
SOCIOLOGY.* 
(Concluded from page 149.) 
(2). As regards the Natural History and Microscopical Society, of 
which our Section is now a unit, I question very much if there are 
many local Societies like it which have held their own for something 
like a quarter of a century, and have had their influence, as ours has, 
in disseminating a taste for Botany, Zoology, Geology, and Microscopy. 
Here at our meetings, irrespective of class distinction, the professional 
man, the merchant, the manufacturer, the clerk, and the working¬ 
man gather together on common ground—that common ground being 
the study of Nature. There is no distinction, either of politics or of 
religion, or even of sex! I well remember the time when, except 
among the medical profession, a microscope was a rarity in the town, 
and now at the Annual Conversaziones of this Society alone we can 
number a hundred! 
The growth and development of our Society has been remarkable. 
Originally consisting of a few enthusiastic naturalists, who met in a 
small back room in the Midland Institute—by the courtesy of the Council 
of that body—it now numbers nearly four hundred members, and has 
acquired a distinction of which we may be justly proud. The annual 
contribution to its funds is almost nominal, but by united efforts our 
Library numbers on its shelves the most important works in Natural 
History and Microscopy. Our Microscopes are of the best that can be 
acquired. By our exertions the Midland Union of Natural History 
Societies was established in 1878, comprising nearly thirty local Societies 
within a radius of sixty miles, and an aggregate of 2,500 members, 
having a Journal of its own—“ The Midland Naturalist.” The annual 
gatherings in neighbouring towns have been highly successful, and the 
foundation of the “ Darwin Medal ”—in honour of the distinguished 
Naturalist who favoured our Society by accepting the office of an 
Honorary Vice-President, given annually for the best original Essay or 
Paper in Biology, Geology, or Archaeology—is a noteworthy feature. 
The last medal was awarded to two of our Members, Professor A. Milnes 
Marshall, D.Sc., and Mr. W. P. Marshall, M.I.C.E., for researches on 
the Pennatulida (Sea Pens, etc.) obtained at Oban during the Dredging 
Excursion of 1881. And here I should like to remark that we are 
proud to have reckoned among the early Members of our Society 
Mr. Grant Allen, who has since risen to fame as an evolutionist. 
On all these grounds I submit that our Society is a Sociological 
factor of importance, that its influence acts and interacts, and that 
the establishment of a Sociological Section as part of its organization 
is a step in the right direction. 
* Abstract of an Address delivered to the Sociological Section of The 
Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society by W. K. Hughes, 
F.L.S., President of the Section, at its first meeting at the Mason College, 
Birmingham.—Thursday, 3rd May, 1883. 
