12
recreation," and the gulf which separates such collectors from
the much-despised maker of ornamental wall-cases is not a
very wide one. I would emphatically urge upon those about
to take up the scientific study of natural history from the very
necessary beginning of making and arranging a collection—
eradicate from your disposition the desire of possessing "fine
series;" let the cacoethes carpendi once take possession of you
and your career as a scientific biologist is doomed. We shall
hope that the taste for collecting which may be engendered in
the county by the foundation of this Field Club will, as en-
forced in our rules, be exercised judiciously and moderately.
In the case of insects, excepting of course in species of great
variability, some three or four, or at most half-a-dozen, speci-
mens are amply sufficient for all purposes of study. There
are many who have assisted in the wholesale extermination
of some species almost extinct for the mere gratification of
possessing a "finer series" than their neighbours; such collec-
tors are guilty of nothing less than a biological crime as heinous
in the eyes of the naturalist as would be the destruction of
some "ancient monument" in the opinion of the archaeologist.
In the course of time and as our Society continues to
flourish—as it surely will if it only fulfils the promises of its
early youth—we shall hope to establish permanent collections
in a museum, and any specimens which our members may
like to contribute for furnishing the nucleus of such a public
collection will at any time be thankfully received. During
the first years of our existence, when our funds will be neces-
sarily limited, we shall of course be unable without external
aid to establish anything in the way of a Natural History
Museum that would be at all worthy of the County Club—the
growth of such an institution will be a work of time; but in
order to accelerate matters I would suggest that a "Museum
Fund" be started among our members, and that our Treasurer
should keep a separate account of such donations, which would
be allowed to accumulate, and from time to time increased by
such sums from our general income as the Council might
think proper to devote to this object, until a sufficient amount
is obtained to warrant our fixing upon some place for our
permanent head-quarters.