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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 27

Field-Days

Field-Days.

"The Excursions of Members of the Club into the country on the 'Field-days' have been as well carried out and planned as formerly, and, considering the difficulties which most of the members, who are page 106 nearly all busy men, find in leaving their business by day, they have been fairly well attended. In all eases they have been productive of great enjoyment to the members, who, after reaching the locality chosen for the meeting, break up into little groups of twos or threes according to their particular studies; and, on re-uniting, the results have always been the acquisition of many rare and, of course, in a new field like this country, innumerable "new" or undescribed and unnamed species. The collections made during these excursions, when properly prepared, have usually been exhibited at the general conversaziones which are held at the end of each of the ordinary monthly meetings of the Society, and are a source of great enjoyment to all lovers of Nature, and show the advantages of a Field Club in bringing the natural products of a district under notice in a very striking and satisfactory way. The members are thus enabled to exchange their duplicate species of one locality for those of another, and every object suggests an interchange of observations and experiences of the collectors, which is so interesting and valuable that I am sure, if informally recorded in a kind of common-place book belonging to the Club, we should soon have a delightful volume which would be eagerly read both here and at home.

"A new interesting movement of practical utility for enabling the younger observers to learn the methods of preserving and setting up specimens of Birds, Fish, Insects, and Plants, &c., has been commenced during the past year with excellent results, and the information and instruction given at the meeting held for the purpose was so highly appreciated that several other meetings of the same kind will be held from time to time.

"A good commencement of a Natural History Library has now been made, and, in addition to various standard works furnished by the members and friends to the cause, the Club subscribes to several of the more important English periodicals on Natural History subjects.