Natural History in the Schools

Abstract

THE annual reports of two school societies, the Marlborough College Natural History Society and the Rugby School Natural History Society, suggest that the schools are taking their due place in the training of the naturalists of the future. Both Societies have had a busy year. Marlborough has dropped from the report the local hand-lists, which must have given to young collectors many a useful pointer towards identification of species, and it has discovered that the members prefer an informal ramble to the massed expedition of a formal field day, which is all to the good from the point of view of training observation. Rugby includes long lists of the seaweeds and marine fauna of Port Erin, which do not seem to be particularly appropriate, although the introduction on the zoning of marine forms illustrates a useful type of observation. Both reports contain records of the local fauna made by members, and both Societies have a useful credit balance on the year's accounts, notwithstanding that Rugby spent more than £400, mostly in erecting a new vivarium and in altering and redecorating the rooms of various sections.