SOME ACCOUNT OF THE "CHIP CHAP CLUB." 63
The phraseology of the minute book is somewhat quaint
and stilted, and might excite amusement were it not for the
evident earnestness of the writer. At irregular intervals the
President confirmed and signed the minutes, his favourite phrase
being : "I have examined these accounts & find them correct.
A. Herring."
At one meeting the Club debated the question, "Is a butterfly
an Insect ?" and it was gravely resolved that "a butterfly is
an animal of the class Insecta." Most abstruse matters were
discussed : "The Liver Fluke," "Coleoptera," "The Migration
of Birds," "Foot and Mouth Disease," "Previsions of Evolution,"
"Lamarck and Progressive Development," "The Claims of
Wallace and Darwin to the discovery of the origin of species,"
and "The Law of Variability" being among the subjects
undertaken by the several members at the weekly meetings.
Even a discussion on "Cell souls and soul cells" was not too
strong meat for attempted digestion by these enthusiasts.
A nucleus library was started by monthly contributions
from the members, one of the rules adopted being as follows :—
"That the expenses of the literature of the Club be paid monthly
by a general levy." Under this scheme the periodicals, Nature,
Science Gossip, The Entomologist, and The Antiquary were
purchased regularly for the use of the members.
At about this time the discoveries of prehistoric implements
by Worthington G. Smith and J. E. Greenhill at Stoke
Newington, Hackney, and elsewhere, were attracting public
attention, and the four Canning Town workmen became enthused
by various finds of the relics of early man made by themselves
in their own neighbourhood. By July 1883, they had acquired
a sufficient collection to make them desirous of expert help
in determining the age of their finds, and accordingly, after
much deliberation at the weekly meetings of the Club, they
decided to write to Mr. Worthington G. Smith to enlist his
aid. The reply was favourable ; the four men were invited
by Worthington Smith to visit him at his house at Clapton,
an invitation which was gladly accepted, and on Sunday, July 29,
1883, the visit duly took place. It is recorded in the minutes
that their reception was most cordial, that Worthington Smith
gave them much information, that he took them to see some
of his sections showing the famous "palaeolithic floor," and