THE COMING OF AGE OF THE ESSEX
FIELD CLUB. A RECORD OF LOCAL
SCIENTIFIC WORK; 1880—1901.
By RAPHAEL MELDOLA, F.R.S., V.P.C.S., F.R.A.S., F.I.C, V.P.R. PHOTOG. SOC,
Professor of Chemistry in the Finsbury Technical College, City and Guilds of London
Institute; Member of the Faculty of Science, University of London. President of the
Club, 1880-1882 & 1901-1902.
[Being the Presidential Address delivered at the 22nd Annual
General Meeting of the Club on March 22nd, 1902.]
" Our Society, in general terms, may be said to have for its scope the study
of Nature in the field......
" In forming a Society such as the present Field Club our primary object
is, of course, the furthering of Science—the annual addition of some-
thing, however humble, to the general stock of human knowledge. In
Epping Forest and the County of Essex we have a fine area to
work in.........
" Thus, in addition to the acquisition of new knowledge, field clubs are capa-
ble of doing good work in the way of education. The faculty of para-
mount importance to the scientist is that of observation, and no study is
better calculated to develop this faculty than that of Natural History."
[From the Presidential Inaugural Address, Feb. 28th, 1880.]
Not often in the annals of a scientific society does it fall to
the lot of the same individual to be called upon to occupy the
presidential chair after an interval of twenty-one years. I
acceded to the wish of your Officers and Council that I should
again take office as President in celebration of our coming of age,
partly on the unsubstantial ground of sentiment and partly
because I may claim to have taken an active interest in the
welfare of the Club and to have kept in touch with its proceed-
ings from the time of the foundation meeting on January 10th,
1880. Twenty-one years measure a serious gap in the lifetime
of an individual, and many whose names appeared in our first
list of members have passed away during that interval. But it
is satisfactory to be able to state that the hand of death has
dealt lightly with our officials. With the exception of Mr. E.
Durrant, every member of the Society who has ever held office—
either as President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, or
Librarian, is still with us in full vigour although in some few