120 MEETING OF CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES'
wood. One half of the pipe being done, they complete it by
boring in the same way from the other end1.
The pipes when finished are thrown into a pond, where they
swim undisturbed until they are wanted.
MEETING OF CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES'
COMMITTEE OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIA-
TION AT BELFAST, 1902.
MR. W. WHITAKER, F.R.S., kindly acted as Delegate
of the Essex Field Club at the Belfast Conference, and
he gave at our meeting in November last a short verbal
summary of the proceedings. Owing to the delay in the
issue of the printed Report of the Conference it has
not been possible to give, until the present part of the Essex
Naturalist, our usual account of the proceedings. Now
that the British Association's Belfast volume is out, and on our
library shelves, it will be sufficient to quote from the report
some passages which more particularly concern and appeal
to the members of our own club.
At the first Conference, on September 11th, 1902, the Chair-
man, Prof. W. W. Watts, M.Sc., Sec.G.S., delivered a very
interesting address. In alluding to the raison d'etre and functions
of these annual conferences, he said: —
" First and foremost in my belief comes the fact that this Conference is
the only body which gives a kind of corporate existence and standing to
the Local Societies as a whole. It is the only thing which brings the
Societies into touch with one another, and it is the only hope that at
present exists for united action and systematised work. That delegates
should make acquaintance, meet in friendly intercourse, and compare
notes as to work done by themselves and one another is also a good side
of our gathering, which is capable of further development than it has yet
received.
" Secondly, the annual printing of a list of Societies known to be doing
important work, with an index of their publications, is a most useful guide
to those desirous of working up the literature of any area. The publications are
always of limited issue and still more limited circulation, and they are most
difficult to obtain a few years after date. The Association has most wisely-
treasured the publications which have been sent to it, and it is to be hoped that
this nucleus of a valuable and unique collection will be placed where it is widely-
accessible.
1 Compare Evelyn's account of the making of wooden water-pipes, in the "Notes" in
the present part.—Ed.