[From Proc IoMNH&ASoc vol 3]

ADDRESS OF RETIRING PRESIDENT, P. M. C. KERMODE, M.A. 17 April, 1930

APOLOGIA

At this fiftieth anniversary of our first Annual Meeting the question naturally arises — Has the Society justified its existence ? The fact that it began on a modest scale, with six to eight members having a common interest in Natural History, who met at their own houses for informal discussion and exchange of notes and views, whereas it now numbers over 250, who are privileged to hold meetings in these room. of our seven-year-old Manx Museum, shows that it has proved acceptable. But, in a criticism of ourselves, we should ask for more than that, and consider how far it has carried out its professed purpose and whether it has indeed been of use and benefit to our community. The special conditions of our small and isolated area, far removed from scientific and learned institutions, and the fact that our membership consists of amateurs and mere beginners — aided, we gratefully acknowledge, by corresponding and honorary members who; are well-known authorities in their respective lines of research — will prepare us not to expect too much. Still, we do look for some advance in that general information which during the last fifty years has been gained in all branches of science, and particularly for advance in the knowledge of our own district during the term of our existence. We may hope also that our Society has had an honourable if small share in: making such additions, and in the gathering and the- dissemination of such knowledge.

Bearing in mind the two main divisions of our activities, the Study of Natural History and of Antiquities, we may now consider briefly the work recorded in our own publications.: But since these publications in themselves constitute a very important part of our work, and some of our members, recently joined, may even not be aware of them, let me here recall that they consist of a small volume called " Transactions," covering the period from 1879 to 1882, of four volumes of " Yn Lioar Manninagh," taking in proceedings and transactions of respectively 1880 to 1892, 1892-95,1895-1901, and 1901 to 1906. This was followed by " Proceedings " (new series), with Vol. I, 1906 to 1914; Vol. II, 1912 to 1926; and Vol. III, 1925 to 1927. A fourth is now in the printer's hands, bringing the date to April, 1929. Hence forward I sincerely hope that we may be able to bring out a volume each year with reasonable punctuality. Besides the Society's publications there are many others relating to matter, closely connected with our special studies. Some of these I may include, but, in addition, there must be many articles in special Journals like "Zoologist," "Entomologist,"" Antiquity," to mention a very few, and papers in the Proceedings of other Societies more or less of the character of our own. All of these will no doubt be included in that important Bibliotheca which the Librarian of our Museum has already spent years in preparing.

Taking the natural sciences and their divisions in order, we begin with Geology, and note that in the early days of the Society, 1884, an hon. member, Sir W. Warrington Smyth F.R.S., who as Inspector of Mines was well acquainted with the Isle of Man, contributed the first List of Minerals(Trans., p. 143); and, in 1903, our List was brought up to date in G. W. Lamplugh's Geological Memoir.

In 1880, Sir W. Boyd-Dawkins conducted an Excursion and gave an account of the Conglomerates of the South of the Island, and in 1902 he did so with respect to the Clay slates and Carboniferous Rocks of Langness (IV., p. 77).The igneous rocks of the south of the Island were treated of by Mr. Hobson, F.G.S., of Manchester Museum, 1891, in an article which appeared in " Lioar Manninagh," II, 337,

It was in 1895 that we began to learn something, then for the first time known, of the solid geology underlying the drift formation which forms the northern plain of the Island. Mr. Todd, C.E., gave an account of the borings at the Point of Ayre, made in a vain search for coal, illustrated on the spotby specimens of Cores, with maps and sections (III, 65). But the greatest and most interesting addition to our knowledge of local geology was that made by Mr. Lamplugh. In 1894 he led an Excursion to Sulby, and there explained his views of the " Crush-conglomerate," illustrated by the exposures examined. Later, Sir Archibald Geikie, then Director of the Survey, came over to study the question, which soon aroused interest and discussion among geologists. Mr. Lamplugh's theory was finally accepted, and led to a reconsideration of the rocks in the Lake District and the re-dating of others. In commemoration of this classic and far-reaching discovery, I had the boldness to give the name of our hon. member to the hitherto nameless face of the rock arising from the Sulby at the entrance to the Cluggit, where the formation is shown in greatest perfection, and since then have introduced several well-known geologists to " Lamplugh's Crag" (II, 210).

In 1903, the Memoir of the Geological Society was brought out, expressed in clear and simple language, and, as stated in the Introduction, " in a form convenient both to the general student and to the local worker. " A visit of the Yorkshire Geological Society in 1907 confirmed Lamplugh's work and, with geologists like Mr. Sibley and Dr. Wheelton Hind, settled the zoning of our Carboniferous rocks (Proc. n.s. I, 101-14). Dr. Wheelton Hind's Memoir on the Fossils;" Carboniferous Lamellibranchiata," was published, 1896-1901,by the Palaeontographical Society* (Vols. I, to LV), illustrated with the beautiful figures for which that series is so justly celebrated. It included species taken by him from the south of the Isle of Man, and is a valuable addition to our knowledge.

To the late Dr. Alfred Haviland, F.G.S., we are indebted for the discussion of our Glacial Geology in general, 1886(Y.L.M., I, 57, 77), as well as for a series of drawings carefully made on a large scale of our hills from various aspects, drawings such as no one else will, I think, have the skill and energy to make. These are now a valued possession of our Manx Museum, and it would be worth while: for this Society to have them reproduced on a smaller scale before they are completely faded away.

In 1900, a friend, Mr. J. Wright, Belfast, gave our Society what no local person was able to give, a list of our Pleistocene Foraminifera (III, 627). The Boulders of the Isle of Man were first considered scientifically by the Rev. Canon Harrison in 1890, with a list of those in Kirk Maughold (II, 208, 397).In 1914, he handed in a list of Pliocene and Pleistocene shells from Shellag (n.s. II, 167-9). Here attention may be drawn to his long series of Reports of our Geological Section, many of which, like that on the Boulders, were commended by Geologists across the water. If only for these papers, the name of S. N. Harrison must always be remembered by this Society with esteem and pride. It was, however, Prof. P. F.;Kendall who, in 1891, started us on the study of our Glacial Geology, when he gave the notable contribution (Y.L.M., I,7, ii, 300), which won for him an award from the Lyell Fund of the Geological Society, for his " very full and careful account of the Glacial Geology of the Isle of Man." Out of respect to him as an hon. member, our Society adopted as a design for its Official Seal one of the new species of Glacial. Shells then named by him. In 1912, another well-known geologist, the late Alfred Bell, came over expressly to make a study of our collections and to gather more material. As a result, he and Sir Sidney Harmer found that, out of 170 species, 40 must certainly be of late Pliocene age. This discovery, considered with the evidence from S. Erith, Cornwall, and from Wexford, Ireland, seemed to show that at that time there had been a stretch of sea from the S.E. of Ireland to the Atlantic. His paper gave lists of the shells and illustrative plates.^*2

Of our post-glacial period the most important work by the Society, with the aid of a grant from the British Association, was the search for and discovery of the fine example of Cervus giganteus, or Megaceros, set up in 1898 in Castle Rushen, where at that time we were allowed to house our Museum Collections (Y.L.M., I, ii, 23-87; III, 327, 394;IV, 4c6).

We are indebted to Deemster Gill, our President in that year, for his influence in urging the quest, for his pains in gathering all the local information possible, and for obtaining the advice and assistance of Mr. Blaker, who took levels, prepared plans, and showed how the site could best be drained. As a result we found the perfect skeleton of a single animal lying on its side where it had been trapped by the tenacious white marl which formed the bottom of the: pool. Plant and insect remains in the marl showed the climate and conditions at the time of its formation, and indicated its period as shortly after the close of the Ice Age. A full account of its finding and surroundings appears also in Lamplugh's Memoir. A recent Paper by Mr. J. R. Bruce(n.s. IH, 154) on " Animal and Plant remains in the Manx Post-glacial deposits and forest-beds," is of consequence not alone for the new knowledge it records but for its suggestiveness of a line of exploration that might well be undertaken by any of our members who may be interested.

Coming now to living things, and considering first our local Botany, knowledge of the Cryptogams has been advanced The Rev. T. Talbot, in 1881, gave some notes on Marine Algae and a List of them in 1886 (Trans. 51). A first list of Fungi was supplied by Mr. J. W. Hartley and the late H. J. Wheldon (n.s., II, 99-I03); and the late G. A. Holt supplied notes on Mosses with a complete list in 1882 (Trans.10, 19; Y.L.M. III, 402). Miss A. M. Crellin gave a preliminary list of Ferns (Trans. 24), and Mr. Ralfe, in 1908, a full list (n.s. I, 165). A new matter for study was introduced by Mr. B. M. Griffiths in 1925, the ' Microscopical Plant World of the Water," and considering the present line of development of the Island, this subject, which is of the utmost importance economically, should be pursued by our local members. Only within the last month a Society has been formed in London for the express purpose of establishing Fresh-water Biological Stations, and in time we may expect to see such spread throughout the land for the study of plant and of animal life in our fresh waters. In 1901, G. A. Holt gave a list of our wild grasses, including 39 species, with additions in 1908 (Y.L.M., IV, 19; n.s. I, 100, 445). A first list of Flowering Plants was given by a brother of mine, the Rev. S. A. P. Kermode, in 1900 (II, 273). Mention should here be made of a valuable article by the Rev. T. Talbot on the only Flowering Plant which has obtained a name associating it with this Island, namely, Brassica Monensis, so called from the fact that it was for the first time noticed and recognised as a distinct species by our great English botanist John Ray, who toward the end of the 18th century (1766) gathered it from the Mooragh, Ramsey, at the mouth of the River Sulby, where it still flourishes.

Of animal life in our district a good deal has been learned during these fifty years. For the knowledge of our Marine Biology we are mainly indebted to Sir William Herdman who in 1890 established the Biological Station at Port Erin.If only our members had had the energy to attend and to work at that Station, our Society might by this time have found itself able to undertake, as it surely ought to undertake,. the complete Biological Survey of the Isle of Man. It has let this great opportunity go by for want of interest, and with it the distinction such an undertaking would have given it among kindred societies. With his able co-workers, Herdman brought out Annual Reports (43), Fauna of Liverpool:(5 vols.), and a series of Memoirs from 1899 to 1929 (Y.L,.I, ii 394). In 1886 he introduced the Society to his special studies in an address on " Marine Invertebrate Fauna followed, in 1893, by " Objects and Methods of Marine Biology " (II, 106), and " Marine Biology," 1893, and "Exploration of our Coasts, 1894 (II, 106, 246; n.s. V37)

His friend and ardent supporter, I. C. Thompson, F.L.S.,in 1900 gave a most interesting address on " The Place of Copepoda in Nature " (III, 621). Our member, the late G. W. Wood, in 1892 gave a note on the Hydroid zoophytes with tables (II, 12). The standard work on British Mollusca by our Manx Naturalist Edward Forbes, and Sylvanus Hanley had appeared in 1853 before the birth of our Society. In this as in other scientific studies, much further knowledge has been obtained, and, in 1881, the Rev. T. Talbot submitted tabulated form, the records from Malacologia and British Mollusca (Trans. 28). In 1888, L. E. Adams gave us a of our land and fresh-water molluscs (Y.L.M., I, ii, 99); in1894, Mr. Robert Cairns contributed a further list of the land molluscs (II, 249); and, in 1910, Mr. F. Taylor yet another list of land and fresh-water forms (n.s. I, 509). In September,1904, we had a delightful address from Sir William Herdman on " Pearl Oysters and Pearl Mussels " (IV, 178, 198, 203). Recently, 1926, our member Mr. J. R. Bruce, called attention once more to marine matters in his " Biological Problems of the Sandy Beach " (n.s. III, 98).

Some work has been done in our local Entomology. Our first President, E. Birchall, in 1880 drew our attention to the Moth .'Egeria philanthiformis, a rare form which passes its larval stage in the stem of the Thrift or Sea-pink. This has since then been exterminated by the baneful greed of the commercial collector (Trans. 13). In 1886, Mr. H. S. Clarke began a long and valuable series of notes and articles with an account of the Eyed Hawkmoth, Smerinthus ocellatus, as a breeding species (Y.L.M., I, 92); and in 1891 a List of Moths, followed by fuller lists and notes on our Heterocera and Rhopalocera. Special mention must here be made of Mr. Clarke's Annual Reports of the Entomological Section 1886 to 1905, Y.L.M., I, 142, to IV, 231. A few years ago he presented us with a handsome Entomological Cabinet, specially made for the late Edwin Birchall, our first President; so that it serves as a memento of two of our early workers in this field of research. Nor was the economic side of the question neglected, articles by P. M. C. Kermode appearing on those insect pests, Wireworm and Cutworm (Y.L.M.,119,29). Dr. J. Ellis, 1892, gave us a note on Beetles, chiefly from the south of the Island (52 species) (Y.L.M., 10, 45);but for this subject we are mainly indebted to our member, the late Dr. Bailey, whose fine and valuable collections came to the Society upon his death, the local species are now in the Manx Museum.

The Rev. S. Gasking, 1887, was the first to direct attention to our Arachnidae (Y.L.M., I., 93); in 1910 Dr. A. R. Jackson, of Manchester, favoured us with " Notes on Collecting and Preserving Spiders " (n.s. I, 503); and our member, Mr. R. Lace, who had corresponded with Dr. Jackson, gave an account of Spiders taken in Santon(n.s. II, 151-9).

Of our Vertebrates also we have gained new knowledge. Mr. J. C. Crellin's List of Fish, 1882, with additions in 1885,appeared in our Transactions, p. 57 and 160. A Porbeagle, Lamna cornubica, is recorded as taken at Derbyhaven, Nov.,1897, and a Thresher, Alopecias vulpes, washed ashore at the Point of Ayre, 1926 (Y.L.M., III, 339). In 1895, our Manx Ornithologist, Mr. Ralfe, began his valuable records with an account of bird-life in the neighbourhood of Douglas(Y.L.M., II, 254-64). From that time to the present he has submitted many papers and reports, while in his his most important work, " Birds of the Isle of Man," was published. Since that he has added numerous records besides his Annual Sectional Reports. Additions to our knowledge of local Mammals began with a list by P. M. C. Kermode in 1885(Trans. 43), and has since been added to. The question of the Tailless Cat was taken up by the Rev. T. Talbot in 1882(Trans. 96), who showed how recently this peculiarity had attracted popular notice. At our last Meeting, March, 1930, Miss Catherine Herdman illustrated with skeletal remains of several individuals an anatomical account of this deformity. In 1894, the Bottle-nose Whale, Hyperoodon rostratum, was recorded for the first time on our coast, having come ashore at Maughold Head (II, 271), and, in 1925, our first and only example of the Northern Rorqual, Balaenoptera borealis, was stranded at Langness. This species has rarely been found in British waters; its bones are at the Museum, but unfortunately there is at present no house-room for them and they cannot be set up and exhibited. Each year inquiries have been made about it, and there is no doubt that there is a public desire to have it and our other Cetaceans properly exhibited in the Manx Museum.

The other main division of our studies, that of the Antiquities of the Isle of Man, has also received attention. A provisional List of Antiquities by P. M. C. Kermode was published in 1894. This, in a revised form and entirely re-written, is now being published by our Society in part commemoration of its fiftieth anniversary.

In 1894, I was able to give an account of the examination by Sir William Herdman and myself of the notable Circle at the Mull, which, though planned and inadequately described, had never previously been excavated (Y.L.M., II, 117). This it was that led to the publication of the little book, " Manx Antiquities," illustrated, by Kermode and Herdman, 1904 with 2nd Ed. 1914.

Another of our Megaliths received attention in 1889 when the Cairn of Gretch veg, Laxey, was compared with the Long Barrows in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire by our hon. member Miss A. W. Buckland (I, ii, 42, 49, 75, 99). Unfortunately she gave it the quite unjustifiable and recent name of " King Orry's Grave," which, as told to myself by the author of had been bestowed by way of a joke by certain young men at the time of its exposure by the lowering of the high road They had not supposed that such a silly name would be taken in earnest, but, happening in the early days of cheap guidebooks, it was eagerly snatched at and has been since repeated for the benefit of the merry tripper. It is high time that this misleading and belittling title should be consigned to oblivion. We have received many communications on our Bronze-age Tumuli. A Cinerary Urn from Port e Chee, Braddan, A. W. Moore; Tumuli on Snaefell and Skyhill, at Ballaseyr, Andreas, and Cronk Aust, Lezayre, P. M. C. Kermode another at the White House, Michael, by Miss A. M. Crellin, also an illustrated account of a Cist with Urns from Baroose, Lonan, by Canon Quine (Y.L.M., I, ii, 167; I, ii, 131, 212;I, 52; I, ii, 27, 52, 88 and 166; I, ii, II; and Proc. n.s. II,271). Perhaps the most interesting piece of pottery yet brought to light and preserved is the small Urn found in levelling a mound at Ballacarnane, Michael, in 1929. This, which is now in the Museum, may be of Neolithic age. It measures 4.75in. at its widest, reduced to 4.25 in. across the mouth and stands 3.5-in. high. The lip, 3/16in., is square, the walls plain, dark-brown, smooth, with paste sprinkled with mica, showing very small atoms of grit. Late Bronze-age pottery, in the form of applied ornament, called " Encrusted Ware,"is represented by fragments of Cinerary Urns from Michael and Ballaugh.

The very primitive Bog-oak Canoe, found at Ballakaighen, German, in 1884: the fragment of one from Maughold; and another, found before our Society's time at Santon, may be of the Bronze Age (Y.L.M., I, ii, 36 and 78); but the most remarkable discovery of the period is the Stone Pillar, now in the Manx Museum, bearing engraved figures of reindeer. Such a carving has not hitherto been found in the British Isles,and we are greatly indebted to Mr. J. R. Bruce and Mr. W.Cubbon for the discovery and for their recognition of it.

Various finds of flint implements have been recorded: From Port St. Mary, F. Swinnerton (I, ii, t37); from North Ramsey, P. M. C. Kermode, Andreas (I, ii, 134, 212; I, 52;I, ii, ~4). Mr. R. H. Walkey described the Neolithic Settlement, N. Ramsey. Mr. J. W. Brown, implements found by him at the West Craig. In 1891, F. Swinnerton gave an account of his finds at Glen Wyllin (I, ii, 262), and later,remains from Rushen (III, 635)- In 1906, Mr. J. Kewley figured and described a large round-bottomed Cinerary Urn from Ballahot, now in the Museum (Proc. n.s. V 33). More recently Mr. C. H. Cowley has exhibited and described the large collection of Flint and Polished-stone implements found by him in the Western District (Proc. n.s. II, II); and, in 192l, gave the first account of the Pygmy Flints, so important in the dating of man's early appearance in this district (Proc.n.s. II, 335) Coming to Historic times we must first recall that the late Speaker, A. W. Moore, brought out his well-known History of the Isle of Man in 1900, and this was followed by various treatises by him — Manx Names, Manx Worthies, Folklore — and by many articles in our Proceedings dealing with language and literature, with customs and constitution, and other matters coming under the general head of local history and sociology. The earliest Christian period has been studied with respect to its monumental remains in the illustrated volume on Manx Crosses, 1907, which was preceded by communications to the Society, by a Catalogue, 1887 (with 2nd Edition 1892),and by the beginning of the complete collection of Casts now in the Manx Museum, and of full-size drawings in the Reference Library, Ramsey, this has been followed up by descriptions of all further finds in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Edinburgh. The remarkable fact brought out by this study was that a series of these Christian carvings of the period of the Scandinavian settlement in the Island bore decorative work including very original illustrations of scenes from the Hero-legends of Sigurd Fafni's-bane and from the old Norse Mythology. Previous to 1927 there was no evidence that the Norsemen who settled here were not already Christian, or, at all events. sufficiently so to adopt the modes of burial of the earlier Christian population. In that year I had the great good fortune, when examining what appeared to be one of our Bronze-age Tumuli, to discover that it was an example of the peculiar Norse ship-burial of heathen times. Very few instances have been brought to light where even a trace of this kind has been met with in the British Isles, and that only in the extreme north. Much of interest relating to early Christian times has been found by our Archaeological Survey dealing with our early Celtic Churches and their burial grounds, while various communications on this period have appeared in our publications. One of the subjects many times touched upon is that of our Place names, and this summary of the work of our Society and its members may conclude with a note calling attention to the two volumes of our President elect, " Place-Names," by J. J. Kneen, 1925, a piece of work which has brought credit to the Isle of Man and honours from home and abroad to the author.

We have not delved deeply, but our activities have spread ever the whole field we set out to cultivate. Lamplugh's illuminating Memoir gives a complete account of our Geology, yet there must always remain scope for the more intense and detailed examination by residents, of the rock formations, as well as for further search for fossils which may establish something expected but not hitherto proved, or reveal something new with respect to their periods and their relationship with similar formations in the adjacent lands. The foundations also have been well and truly laid for the acquisition of that perfect and complete knowledge of the Botany and the Zoology of our district which should be the chief aim of a local Society. This aim is indeed the more of an obligation upon us from the very perfection of our district, with its natural boundaries, of a size neither too large for us to compass nor too small or uniform to be interesting, isolated yet easily accessible, a perfect district and a natural region. On the archaeological side useful excavations have been made and full descriptions given of some traces of the past, and it is already possible to judge in general terms the cultures represented and the conditions of life through the centuries to the beginning of our history as set forth by the late A. W.Moore. Even in regard to our historic period, light may still be thrown by the continued closer study of our historical antiquities.

More important than our discoveries or the small share we have had in adding to our knowledge is the influence of our activities upon our insular community. I believe, as stated at our December meeting, that the inception of a Public Museum for the Isle of Man is due to our Governor, who afterwards became Lord Loch, and that it was to educate and promote public opinion in this connection that he invited the Cambrian Archaeological Association to visit the Island in 1865. Their week's visit with excursions to all parts of the Island, Their discussions on Peel and Castle Rushen, the Mull Circle, Gretch-veg Cairn and other notable monuments, with the temporary Museum prepared for them at Castle Rushen, aroused general interest and awakened local consciousness to the meaning and the value of our antiquities. Unfortunately, there was no one to take the lead or to keep up that interest and emphasize the advantages of a permanent institution, and in time the effect faded from memory. The formation of our Society recalled attention to it, and accounts of our meetings and of our excursions in every parish renewed the interest and created a popular feeling in favour of such an establishment. Our Museum Act was passed in 1880, and at our special request it included provision for the protection of our Ancient Monuments of which the Museum Trustees were constituted guardians. When at last a building was forthcoming and Tynwald undertook to furnish and to maintain it, the collections we were able to give were sufficient to make a beginning, and our people, now grown accustomed to the idea, were prepared to appreciate it.

Reference has been made to the visits of the Cambrians. Other Societies have also sent excursions, and we have been glad to receive them and conduct them to places of special interest. The British Association on four different occasions; the North Staffordshire Field Club upon the model of which our own Society was builded; the Cumberland and Westmorland Society; the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland and the Yorkshire Geological Society. Each of these has provided us with opportunities of intercourse with experienced workers and specialists and added to our knowledge and understanding of our own treasures, while such visits have attracted special attention among our people to many places and objects in themselves unobtrusive and apparently meaningless, thus arousing local interest in our work. Our own summer excursions to all parts of the Island, and the published accounts of our meetings have undoubtedly had an influence for good and been a means of creating a popular appreciation of the Island's treasures previously unrecognized and neglected.

It would be appropriate here to say something about those who have rendered conspicuous service, and with their most useful work have helped their fellow-labourers and raised the credit of the Society in the eyes of those best qualified to judge; as well as about those scientific friends both at home and abroad who have so willingly held out the hand of friendship to help us on the way. Some of these I named at our December meeting; let them be remembered. On this occasion, pray allow me to mention one only, than whom no individual has been more helpful and encouraging. Our Governor, Lord Raglan, was elected Honorary President in1903, and, with members of his family, used constantly to attend our meetings and excursions, taking. an active part in our work, and becoming Chairman of our most important Committee. In 1909 he accepted the office of actual President, his year being a particularly happy and successful one. Coming to us at a time of despondency, of flagging interest and dwindling activities, he heartened and revivified our Society, so that when he left it was in a flourishing condition, doing good work and having a greater number of members than ever. A man of wisdom and understanding, of knowledge and experience, he came to the Isle of Man a stranger During his stay he went about among the people throughout the whole Island as no other Governor ever did, and grew to know it better than many a native. He understood and sympathized with the wants and wishes of the people, making them feel that he was indeed a true friend. He learned to love the Isle of Man, and was regarded by the Manx people with the greatest respect and affection. "He was a verray perfight knight."

As a constant source of interest and pleasure to many, developing a taste for closer observation, and, with the Manx Museum now happily established, providing opportunities for the more effectual study of nature and the common objects around us; as a means also of gaining and of spreading a knowledge of our ancient monuments, of their significance and relationship to those in other lands and therewith fostering a spirit of protection; our Society has an educative value and a general influence for good which gives it a high place in the intellectual life of our community. If we have done nothing to boast about, we have prepared the way for others to make a complete account of the Natural History and the Antiquities of our Island home, and may claim that the Society has justified its existence.

[1 It is interesting to us to note that this learned Society was founded. by a Manxman, Edward Forbes.]
[2 Unfortunately it was found impossible to publish this for some years and when at last that was done, the Author did not live to revise the proofs.]