Natural history societies in late Victorian Scotland and the pursuit of local civic science

British Journal for the History of Science

Volumn 38, Issue 1, 2005, Pages 53-72

  Finnegan, Diarmid A ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 16244380825     PISSN: 00070874     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0007087404006466     Document Type: Article

References (121)

1. C. Kingsley, Glaucus; or, the Wonders of the Shore, Cambridge, 1855, 102-3.
2. On the geographies of fieldwork and Scottish natural history societies see C. W. J. Withers and D. A. Finnegan, 'Natural history societies, fieldwork and local knowledge in nineteenth-century Scotland: toward a historical geography of civic science, Cultural Geographies (2003), 10, 334-53.
3. On provincial natural history in Victorian Britain see S. J. M. M. Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals in one county: biology and natural history in late Victorian Yorkshire, 'Journal of the History of Biology (2001), 34, 115-47; idem, 'Placing nature; natural history collections and their owners in nineteenth-century provincial England", BJHS (2002), 35, 291-311; idem, 'Conversaziones and the experience of science in Victorian England', Journal of Victorian Culture (2003), 8, 208-30; P. Elliot, 'The origins of the "creative class": provincial urban society, scientific culture and socio-political marginality in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries', Social History (2003), 28, 361-87; A. Kraft and S. J. M. M. Alberti, '"Equal though different": laboratories, museums and the institutional development of biology in late Victorian Northern England', Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (2003), 24, 203-36; S. Naylor, 'The field, the museum and the lecture hall: the spaces of natural history in Victorian Cornwall", Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (2002), 4, 494-513; idem, 'Collecting quoits: field cultures in the history of Cornish antiquarianism', Cultural Geographies (2003), 10, 309-33. For Ireland see R. Bayles, 'Understanding local science: the Belfast Natural History Society in the mid-nineteenth century', in Science and Irish Culture: Why the History of Science Matters in Ireland (ed. D. Attis and C. Mollan), Dublin, 2004, 139-69. For Germany, see D. Phillips, 'Friends of nature: urban sociability and regional natural history in Dresden, 1800-1850', Osiris (2003), 18, 43-59. On science and civil society more generally, see L. K. Nyhart and T. Broman (eds.), Science and Civil Society, Chicago, 2002.
4. On provincial natural history in Victorian Britain see S. J. M. M. Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals in one county: biology and natural history in late Victorian Yorkshire 'Journal of the History of Biology (2001), 34, 115-47; idem, 'Placing nature; natural history collections and their owners in nineteenth-century provincial England", BJHS (2002), 35, 291-311; idem, 'Conversaziones and the experience of science in Victorian England', Journal of Victorian Culture (2003), 8, 208-30; P. Elliot, 'The origins of the "creative class": provincial urban society, scientific culture and socio-political marginality in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries', Social History (2003), 28, 361-87; A. Kraft and S. J. M. M. Alberti, '"Equal though different": laboratories, museums and the institutional development of biology in late Victorian Northern England', Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (2003), 24, 203-36; S. Naylor, 'The field, the museum and the lecture hall: the spaces of natural history in Victorian Cornwall", Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (2002), 4, 494-513; idem, 'Collecting quoits: field cultures in the history of Cornish antiquarianism', Cultural Geographies (2003), 10, 309-33. For Ireland see R. Bayles, 'Understanding local science: the Belfast Natural History Society in the mid-nineteenth century', in Science and Irish Culture: Why the History of Science Matters in Ireland (ed. D. Attis and C. Mollan), Dublin, 2004, 139-69. For Germany, see D. Phillips, 'Friends of nature: urban sociability and regional natural history in Dresden, 1800-1850', Osiris (2003), 18, 43-59. On science and civil society more generally, see L. K. Nyhart and T. Broman (eds.), Science and Civil Society, Chicago, 2002.
5. On provincial natural history in Victorian Britain see S. J. M. M. Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals in one county: biology and natural history in late Victorian Yorkshire 'Journal of the History of Biology (2001), 34, 115-47; idem, 'Placing nature; natural history collections and their owners in nineteenth-century provincial England", BJHS (2002), 35, 291-311; idem, 'Conversaziones and the experience of science in Victorian England', Journal of Victorian Culture (2003), 8, 208-30; P. Elliot, 'The origins of the "creative class": provincial urban society, scientific culture and socio-political marginality in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries', Social History (2003), 28, 361-87; A. Kraft and S. J. M. M. Alberti, '"Equal though different": laboratories, museums and the institutional development of biology in late Victorian Northern England', Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (2003), 24, 203-36; S. Naylor, 'The field, the museum and the lecture hall: the spaces of natural history in Victorian Cornwall", Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (2002), 4, 494-513; idem, 'Collecting quoits: field cultures in the history of Cornish antiquarianism', Cultural Geographies (2003), 10, 309-33. For Ireland see R. Bayles, 'Understanding local science: the Belfast Natural History Society in the mid-nineteenth century', in Science and Irish Culture: Why the History of Science Matters in Ireland (ed. D. Attis and C. Mollan), Dublin, 2004, 139-69. For Germany, see D. Phillips, 'Friends of nature: urban sociability and regional natural history in Dresden, 1800-1850', Osiris (2003), 18, 43-59. On science and civil society more generally, see L. K. Nyhart and T. Broman (eds.), Science and Civil Society, Chicago, 2002.
6. On provincial natural history in Victorian Britain see S. J. M. M. Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals in one county: biology and natural history in late Victorian Yorkshire 'Journal of the History of Biology (2001), 34, 115-47; idem, 'Placing nature; natural history collections and their owners in nineteenth-century provincial England", BJHS (2002), 35, 291-311; idem, 'Conversaziones and the experience of science in Victorian England', Journal of Victorian Culture (2003), 8, 208-30; P. Elliot, 'The origins of the "creative class": provincial urban society, scientific culture and socio-political marginality in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries', Social History (2003), 28, 361-87; A. Kraft and S. J. M. M. Alberti, '"Equal though different": laboratories, museums and the institutional development of biology in late Victorian Northern England', Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (2003), 24, 203-36; S. Naylor, 'The field, the museum and the lecture hall: the spaces of natural history in Victorian Cornwall", Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (2002), 4, 494-513; idem, 'Collecting quoits: field cultures in the history of Cornish antiquarianism', Cultural Geographies (2003), 10, 309-33. For Ireland see R. Bayles, 'Understanding local science: the Belfast Natural History Society in the mid-nineteenth century', in Science and Irish Culture: Why the History of Science Matters in Ireland (ed. D. Attis and C. Mollan), Dublin, 2004, 139-69. For Germany, see D. Phillips, 'Friends of nature: urban sociability and regional natural history in Dresden, 1800-1850', Osiris (2003), 18, 43-59. On science and civil society more generally, see L. K. Nyhart and T. Broman (eds.), Science and Civil Society, Chicago, 2002.
7. On provincial natural history in Victorian Britain see S. J. M. M. Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals in one county: biology and natural history in late Victorian Yorkshire 'Journal of the History of Biology (2001), 34, 115-47; idem, 'Placing nature; natural history collections and their owners in nineteenth-century provincial England", BJHS (2002), 35, 291-311; idem, 'Conversaziones and the experience of science in Victorian England', Journal of Victorian Culture (2003), 8, 208-30; P. Elliot, 'The origins of the "creative class": provincial urban society, scientific culture and socio-political marginality in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries', Social History (2003), 28, 361-87; A. Kraft and S. J. M. M. Alberti, '"Equal though different": laboratories, museums and the institutional development of biology in late Victorian Northern England', Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (2003), 24, 203-36; S. Naylor, 'The field, the museum and the lecture hall: the spaces of natural history in Victorian Cornwall", Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (2002), 4, 494-513; idem, 'Collecting quoits: field cultures in the history of Cornish antiquarianism', Cultural Geographies (2003), 10, 309-33. For Ireland see R. Bayles, 'Understanding local science: the Belfast Natural History Society in the mid-nineteenth century', in Science and Irish Culture: Why the History of Science Matters in Ireland (ed. D. Attis and C. Mollan), Dublin, 2004, 139-69. For Germany, see D. Phillips, 'Friends of nature: urban sociability and regional natural history in Dresden, 1800-1850', Osiris (2003), 18, 43-59. On science and civil society more generally, see L. K. Nyhart and T. Broman (eds.), Science and Civil Society, Chicago, 2002.
8. On provincial natural history in Victorian Britain see S. J. M. M. Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals in one county: biology and natural history in late Victorian Yorkshire 'Journal of the History of Biology (2001), 34, 115-47; idem, 'Placing nature; natural history collections and their owners in nineteenth-century provincial England", BJHS (2002), 35, 291-311; idem, 'Conversaziones and the experience of science in Victorian England', Journal of Victorian Culture (2003), 8, 208-30; P. Elliot, 'The origins of the "creative class": provincial urban society, scientific culture and socio-political marginality in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries', Social History (2003), 28, 361-87; A. Kraft and S. J. M. M. Alberti, '"Equal though different": laboratories, museums and the institutional development of biology in late Victorian Northern England', Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (2003), 24, 203-36; S. Naylor, 'The field, the museum and the lecture hall: the spaces of natural history in Victorian Cornwall", Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (2002), 4, 494-513; idem, 'Collecting quoits: field cultures in the history of Cornish antiquarianism', Cultural Geographies (2003), 10, 309-33. For Ireland see R. Bayles, 'Understanding local science: the Belfast Natural History Society in the mid-nineteenth century', in Science and Irish Culture: Why the History of Science Matters in Ireland (ed. D. Attis and C. Mollan), Dublin, 2004, 139-69. For Germany, see D. Phillips, 'Friends of nature: urban sociability and regional natural history in Dresden, 1800-1850', Osiris (2003), 18, 43-59. On science and civil society more generally, see L. K. Nyhart and T. Broman (eds.), Science and Civil Society, Chicago, 2002.
9. On provincial natural history in Victorian Britain see S. J. M. M. Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals in one county: biology and natural history in late Victorian Yorkshire 'Journal of the History of Biology (2001), 34, 115-47; idem, 'Placing nature; natural history collections and their owners in nineteenth-century provincial England", BJHS (2002), 35, 291-311; idem, 'Conversaziones and the experience of science in Victorian England', Journal of Victorian Culture (2003), 8, 208-30; P. Elliot, 'The origins of the "creative class": provincial urban society, scientific culture and socio-political marginality in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries', Social History (2003), 28, 361-87; A. Kraft and S. J. M. M. Alberti, '"Equal though different": laboratories, museums and the institutional development of biology in late Victorian Northern England', Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (2003), 24, 203-36; S. Naylor, 'The field, the museum and the lecture hall: the spaces of natural history in Victorian Cornwall", Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (2002), 4, 494-513; idem, 'Collecting quoits: field cultures in the history of Cornish antiquarianism', Cultural Geographies (2003), 10, 309-33. For Ireland see R. Bayles, 'Understanding local science: the Belfast Natural History Society in the mid-nineteenth century', in Science and Irish Culture: Why the History of Science Matters in Ireland (ed. D. Attis and C. Mollan), Dublin, 2004, 139-69. For Germany, see D. Phillips, 'Friends of nature: urban sociability and regional natural history in Dresden, 1800-1850', Osiris (2003), 18, 43-59. On science and civil society more generally, see L. K. Nyhart and T. Broman (eds.), Science and Civil Society, Chicago, 2002.
10. On provincial natural history in Victorian Britain see S. J. M. M. Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals in one county: biology and natural history in late Victorian Yorkshire 'Journal of the History of Biology (2001), 34, 115-47; idem, 'Placing nature; natural history collections and their owners in nineteenth-century provincial England", BJHS (2002), 35, 291-311; idem, 'Conversaziones and the experience of science in Victorian England', Journal of Victorian Culture (2003), 8, 208-30; P. Elliot, 'The origins of the "creative class": provincial urban society, scientific culture and socio-political marginality in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries', Social History (2003), 28, 361-87; A. Kraft and S. J. M. M. Alberti, '"Equal though different": laboratories, museums and the institutional development of biology in late Victorian Northern England', Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (2003), 24, 203-36; S. Naylor, 'The field, the museum and the lecture hall: the spaces of natural history in Victorian Cornwall", Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (2002), 4, 494-513; idem, 'Collecting quoits: field cultures in the history of Cornish antiquarianism', Cultural Geographies (2003), 10, 309-33. For Ireland see R. Bayles, 'Understanding local science: the Belfast Natural History Society in the mid-nineteenth century', in Science and Irish Culture: Why the History of Science Matters in Ireland (ed. D. Attis and C. Mollan), Dublin, 2004, 139-69. For Germany, see D. Phillips, 'Friends of nature: urban sociability and regional natural history in Dresden, 1800-1850', Osiris (2003), 18, 43-59. On science and civil society more generally, see L. K. Nyhart and T. Broman (eds.), Science and Civil Society, Chicago, 2002.
11. On provincial natural history in Victorian Britain see S. J. M. M. Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals in one county: biology and natural history in late Victorian Yorkshire 'Journal of the History of Biology (2001), 34, 115-47; idem, 'Placing nature; natural history collections and their owners in nineteenth-century provincial England", BJHS (2002), 35, 291-311; idem, 'Conversaziones and the experience of science in Victorian England', Journal of Victorian Culture (2003), 8, 208-30; P. Elliot, 'The origins of the "creative class": provincial urban society, scientific culture and socio-political marginality in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries', Social History (2003), 28, 361-87; A. Kraft and S. J. M. M. Alberti, '"Equal though different": laboratories, museums and the institutional development of biology in late Victorian Northern England', Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (2003), 24, 203-36; S. Naylor, 'The field, the museum and the lecture hall: the spaces of natural history in Victorian Cornwall", Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (2002), 4, 494-513; idem, 'Collecting quoits: field cultures in the history of Cornish antiquarianism', Cultural Geographies (2003), 10, 309-33. For Ireland see R. Bayles, 'Understanding local science: the Belfast Natural History Society in the mid-nineteenth century', in Science and Irish Culture: Why the History of Science Matters in Ireland (ed. D. Attis and C. Mollan), Dublin, 2004, 139-69. For Germany, see D. Phillips, 'Friends of nature: urban sociability and regional natural history in Dresden, 1800-1850', Osiris (2003), 18, 43-59. On science and civil society more generally, see L. K. Nyhart and T. Broman (eds.), Science and Civil Society, Chicago, 2002.
12. On provincial natural history in Victorian Britain see S. J. M. M. Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals in one county: biology and natural history in late Victorian Yorkshire 'Journal of the History of Biology (2001), 34, 115-47; idem, 'Placing nature; natural history collections and their owners in nineteenth-century provincial England", BJHS (2002), 35, 291-311; idem, 'Conversaziones and the experience of science in Victorian England', Journal of Victorian Culture (2003), 8, 208-30; P. Elliot, 'The origins of the "creative class": provincial urban society, scientific culture and socio-political marginality in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries', Social History (2003), 28, 361-87; A. Kraft and S. J. M. M. Alberti, '"Equal though different": laboratories, museums and the institutional development of biology in late Victorian Northern England', Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (2003), 24, 203-36; S. Naylor, 'The field, the museum and the lecture hall: the spaces of natural history in Victorian Cornwall", Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (2002), 4, 494-513; idem, 'Collecting quoits: field cultures in the history of Cornish antiquarianism', Cultural Geographies (2003), 10, 309-33. For Ireland see R. Bayles, 'Understanding local science: the Belfast Natural History Society in the mid-nineteenth century', in Science and Irish Culture: Why the History of Science Matters in Ireland (ed. D. Attis and C. Mollan), Dublin, 2004, 139-69. For Germany, see D. Phillips, 'Friends of nature: urban sociability and regional natural history in Dresden, 1800-1850', Osiris (2003), 18, 43-59. On science and civil society more generally, see L. K. Nyhart and T. Broman (eds.), Science and Civil Society, Chicago, 2002.
13. Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals', op. cit. (3); Bayles, op. cit. (3); Naylor, 'The field, the museum and the lecture hall', op. cit. (3).
14. Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals', op. cit. (3); Bayles, op. cit. (3); Naylor, 'The field, the museum and the lecture hall', op. cit. (3).
15. Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals', op. cit. (3); Bayles, op. cit. (3); Naylor, 'The field, the museum and the lecture hall', op. cit. (3).
16. D. E. Allen, The Naturalist in Britain, London, 1976, 158-75; idem, 'The natural history society in Britain through the years', Archives of Natural History (1987), 14, 243-59.
17. D. E. Allen, The Naturalist in Britain, London, 1976, 158-75; idem, 'The natural history society in Britain through the years', Archives of Natural History (1987), 14, 243-59.
18. This estimate, taken from the Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1904), 341, is cited in P. D. Lowe, 'The British Association and the provincial public", in The Parliament of Science (ed. P. Collins and R. MacLeod), Northwood, 1981, 133, 143.
19. This estimate, taken from the Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1904), 341, is cited in P. D. Lowe, 'The British Association and the provincial public", in The Parliament of Science (ed. P. Collins and R. MacLeod), Northwood, 1981, 133, 143.
20. It should be said, however, that an increasing amount of work is being done on scientific societies in nineteenth-century Wales and Ireland. See, for example, Bayles, op. cit. (3); and L. Miskell, 'The making of a new "Welsh metropolis": science, leisure and industry in early nineteenth-century Wales', History (2003), 88, 32-52.
21. It should be said, however, that an increasing amount of work is being done on scientific societies in nineteenth-century Wales and Ireland. See, for example, Bayles, op. cit. (3); and L. Miskell, 'The making of a new "Welsh metropolis": science, leisure and industry in early nineteenth-century Wales', History (2003), 88, 32-52.
22. J. Britten, 'List of scientific societies and field clubs in Great Britain and Ireland', Nature (1873), 8, 521-4; W. Elliot, 'List of field clubs', Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh (1871), 11, 242-50.
23. J. Britten, 'List of scientific societies and field clubs in Great Britain and Ireland', Nature (1873), 8, 521-4; W. Elliot, 'List of field clubs', Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh (1871), 11, 242-50.
24. Britten, op. cit. (8), 522. Note that Britten's list was incomplete for Scotland, although not substantially so. Alberti has noted that the numbers of natural history societies instituted in Yorkshire peaked between 1860 and 1880. S. J. M. M. Alberti, 'Field, lab and museum: the practice and place of life science in Yorkshire, 1870-1904', unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Sheffield, 2001, 179.
25. Britten, op. cit. (8), 522. Note that Britten's list was incomplete for Scotland, although not substantially so. Alberti has noted that the numbers of natural history societies instituted in Yorkshire peaked between 1860 and 1880. S. J. M. M. Alberti, 'Field, lab and museum: the practice and place of life science in Yorkshire, 1870-1904', unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Sheffield, 2001, 179.
26. R. J. Morris, 'Clubs, societies and associations', in The Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750-1950 (ed. F. M. L. Thompson), 3 vols., Cambridge, 1990, iii, 395-443.
27. J. R. Camerini, 'Wallace in the field', Osiris (1996), 11, 44.
28. L. Daston, 'The ethos of Enlightenment', in The Sciences in Enlightened Europe (ed. W. Clark, J. Golinski and S. Schaffer), Chicago, 1999, 495-504. For German naturalists' associations, and science as civil practice, see A. Daum, 'Science, politics, and religion: Humboldtian thinking and the transformation of civil society in Germany, 1830-1870', Osiris (2002), 17, 107-40.
29. L. Daston, 'The ethos of Enlightenment', in The Sciences in Enlightened Europe (ed. W. Clark, J. Golinski and S. Schaffer), Chicago, 1999, 495-504. For German naturalists' associations, and science as civil practice, see A. Daum, 'Science, politics, and religion: Humboldtian thinking and the transformation of civil society in Germany, 1830-1870', Osiris (2002), 17, 107-40.
30. This also echoed the romantic thinking found in German civic science. See Daum, op. cit. (12).
31. See S. Khilnani, 'The development of civil society', in Civil Society: History and Possibilities (ed. S. Kaviraj and S. Khilnani), Cambridge, 2001, 20-1.
32. A. Secord, 'Botany on a plate: pleasure and the power of pictures in promoting early nineteenth-century scientific knowledge', Isis (2002), 93, 28-57.
33. A. Secord, op. cit. (15), 30.
34. For a look at the complicated story of the shifting relations between outdoor study and indoor microscopy in the second half of the nineteenth century see G. Gooday, '"Nature" in the laboratory: domestication and discipline with the microscope in Victorian life science', BJHS (1991), 24, 307-41. For the period in question here (1870-1900) there is little evidence of Scottish naturalists arguing for the superiority of out-of-door examination of nature vis-à-vis the indoor study of nature under the microscope.
35. George Johnston used the term 'drawing room amateur' in correspondence about the establishment of the Ray Society. This enterprise could be taken as an early instance of 'amateurization', fuelled as it was by a desire to make natural history publications both more scientific and more accessible. See G. Johnston, Selections from the Correspondence of Dr. George Johnston, Edinburgh, 1892 [1844], 277. See also P. Davis, 'Sir William Jardine's account of the formation of the Ray Society', Archives of Natural History (1998), 25, 25-58.
36. George Johnston used the term 'drawing room amateur' in correspondence about the establishment of the Ray Society. This enterprise could be taken as an early instance of 'amateurization', fuelled as it was by a desire to make natural history publications both more scientific and more accessible. See G. Johnston, Selections from the Correspondence of Dr. George Johnston, Edinburgh, 1892 [1844], 277. See also P. Davis, 'Sir William Jardine's account of the formation of the Ray Society', Archives of Natural History (1998), 25, 25-58.
37. Phillips, op. cit. (3), 58-9.
38. J. S. Crichton, The Aims and Objects of a Local Natural History Society, Arbroath, 1885, 2, 7-8.
39. Crichton, op. cit. (20), 1, 8.
40. W. Jolly, 'Opening address: the scientific materials of the north of Scotland', Transactions of the Inverness Scientific Society and Field Club (1876), 1, 4-21.
41. Jolly, op. cit. (22), 15.
42. J. C. Howden, 'The aims of a naturalists' field club', Report of the Montrose Natural History and Antiquarian Society (1885), 12-18. Howden's paper was also published in the Scottish Naturalist (1886), 8, 50-7.
43. J. C. Howden, 'The aims of a naturalists' field club', Report of the Montrose Natural History and Antiquarian Society (1885), 12-18. Howden's paper was also published in the Scottish Naturalist (1886), 8, 50-7.
44. Howden, op. cit. (24), 14-15.
45. Jolly, op. cit. (22), 20.
46. W. Jardine, 'Opening address', Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society (1863), 1, 40.
47. For an account of the Scottish education and the democratic ideal see R. D. Anderson, Education and Opportunity in Victorian Scotland: Schools and Universities, Oxford, 1983, 1-261; and L. Paterson, 'Scottish traditions in education", in Compendium of Scottish Ethnology (ed. H. Holmes), 14 vols., East Linton, 2000, xi, 21-43.
48. For an account of the Scottish education and the democratic ideal see R. D. Anderson, Education and Opportunity in Victorian Scotland: Schools and Universities, Oxford, 1983, 1-261; and L. Paterson, 'Scottish traditions in education", in Compendium of Scottish Ethnology (ed. H. Holmes), 14 vols., East Linton, 2000, xi, 21-43.
49. For an account of Samuel Smiles and the 'making' of Thomas Edward see A. Secord, '"Be what you would seem to be": Samuel Smiles, Thomas Edward and the making of a working-class scientific hero", Science in Context (2003), 16, 147-73.
50. A. Croall, 'Opening address', Transactions of the Stirling Field Club (1898 [1878]), 1, 3.
51. Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction, 3rd, 4th and 5th Reports from the Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction, Irish University Press, 1969 [1872], 429.
52. Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction, op. cit. (31), 429.
53. In addition to the better-known biographies of Smiles see T. R. R. Stebbing, The Naturalist of Cumbrae, London, 1891; W. Jolly, Life of John Duncan, Scotch Weaver and Botanist, London, 1883; and H. Coates, A Perthshire Naturalist, Perth, 1923.
54. In addition to the better-known biographies of Smiles see T. R. R. Stebbing, The Naturalist of Cumbrae, London, 1891; W. Jolly, Life of John Duncan, Scotch Weaver and Botanist, London, 1883; and H. Coates, A Perthshire Naturalist, Perth, 1923.
55. In addition to the better-known biographies of Smiles see T. R. R. Stebbing, The Naturalist of Cumbrae, London, 1891; W. Jolly, Life of John Duncan, Scotch Weaver and Botanist, London, 1883; and H. Coates, A Perthshire Naturalist, Perth, 1923.
56. Perthshire Society of Natural Science, Library Catalogue, Perth, 1903.
57. See Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals in one county', op. cit (3); and P. D. Lowe, 'Amateurs and professionals; the institutional emergence of British plant ecology', Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History (1976), 7, 517-35.
58. See Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals in one county', op. cit (3); and P. D. Lowe, 'Amateurs and professionals; the institutional emergence of British plant ecology', Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History (1976), 7, 517-35.
59. Anon., 'The late Sir Thomas Moncrieffe: a suggestion', Perthshire Constitutional and Journal, 25 August 1879; F. B. White, 'In memoriam. Sir Thomas Moncrieffe, Bart.', Scottish Naturalist (1880), 5, 146.
60. Anon., 'The late Sir Thomas Moncrieffe: a suggestion', Perthshire Constitutional and Journal, 25 August 1879; F. B. White, 'In memoriam. Sir Thomas Moncrieffe, Bart.', Scottish Naturalist (1880), 5, 146.
61. White, op. cit. (36), 146.
62. Anon., op. cit. (36).
63. Howden, op. cit. (24), 18.
64. R. J. Morris and R. Rodger, 'An introduction to British urban history, 1820-1914', in The Victorian City (ed. R. J. Morris and R. Rodger), London, 1993, 21.
65. S. Forgan, 'Context, image and function: a preliminary inquiry into the architecture of scientific societies', BJHS (1986), 19, 89-113. See Alberti, 'Placing nature', op. cit. (3).
66. S. Forgan, 'Context, image and function: a preliminary inquiry into the architecture of scientific societies', BJHS (1986), 19, 89-113. See Alberti, 'Placing nature', op. cit. (3).
67. Alberti, 'Conversaziones and the experience of science in Victorian England', op. cit. (3).
68. Anon., Annual Report of the Dundee Naturalists' Society (1877), 4, 10.
69. Anon., op. cit. (43), 14.
70. The exhibition concentrated on scientific apparatus and the schoolchildren were admitted on a small charge on the basis that there was no permanent collection of scientific apparatus in Dundee at that time. Annual Report of the Dundee Naturalists' Society (1880), 7, 8, The conversation with the mechanic is reported in F. W. Young, The Coming of Age of the Dundee Naturalists' Society, Dundee, 1895, 12.
71. The exhibition concentrated on scientific apparatus and the schoolchildren were admitted on a small charge on the basis that there was no permanent collection of scientific apparatus in Dundee at that time. Annual Report of the Dundee Naturalists' Society (1880), 7, 8, The conversation with the mechanic is reported in F. W. Young, The Coming of Age of the Dundee Naturalists' Society, Dundee, 1895, 12.
72. C. Mackean and D. Walker, Dundee, an Illustrated Architectural Guide, Edinburgh, 1993, 43.
73. Anon., 'Dundee Naturalists' Society conversazione', Dundee Advertiser, 28 January 1876.
74. Something of these relations is explored in M. Macdonald, 'The patron, the professor and the painter: cultural activity in Dundee at the close of the nineteenth century', in Victorian Dundee: Images and Realities, (ed. L. Miskell, C. A. Whatley and B. Harris), East Linton, 2000, 135-50.
75. Anon., 'Dundee Naturalists' Society conversazione', Dundee Courier and Argus, 22 February 1886, 3.
76. There is, however, at least one instance of a direct (and unsuccessful) appeal for financial support direct from the state on behalf of natural history societies in Scotland. David Milne-Home, speaking to the Royal Commission of Scientific Instruction in 1872, appealed for 'direct aid' or the setting up of a Scottish board or commission to help pay for the publication of local scientific society transactions. See Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction, op. cit. (31), 429.
77. D. H. Edwards, Modern Scottish Poets with Biographical and Critical Notes, Brechin, 1881, 160.
78. E. Gordon and G. Nair, Public Lives: Women, Family and Society in Victorian Britain, New Haven, 2003, 225, Plate 29; M. Gorsky, Patterns of Philanthropy: Charity and Society in Nineteenth-Century Bristol, Woodbridge, 1999, 169.
79. E. Gordon and G. Nair, Public Lives: Women, Family and Society in Victorian Britain, New Haven, 2003, 225, Plate 29; M. Gorsky, Patterns of Philanthropy: Charity and Society in Nineteenth-Century Bristol, Woodbridge, 1999, 169.
80. For several accounts of the Swiss-themed bazaar see the Perthshire Constitutional and Journal, 5, 7, 9 December 1881. For more on the photographer behind the picture in Figure 1 see S. Payne, 'Magnus Jackson and the Black Art", Journal of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science (forthcoming).
81. For several accounts of the Swiss-themed bazaar see the Perthshire Constitutional and Journal, 5, 7, 9 December 1881. For more on the photographer behind the picture in Figure 1 see S. Payne, 'Magnus Jackson and the Black Art", Journal of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science (forthcoming).
82. See, for example, 'Perthshire natural history museum: a grand bazaar', Perthshire Constitutional, 5 December 1881.
83. Anon., 'The bazaar of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science', Perthshire Constitutional, 9 December 1881.
84. A. Croall, 'President's address', Transactions of the Stirling Field Club (1880), 2, 10. While beyond the scope of this paper, it is appropriate to note the possibility of recovering the experiences of visitors to provincial natural history museums. For an account of this sort, albeit focusing on a rather different sort of natural history museum, see V. Carroll, ' The natural history of visiting: responses to Charles Waterton and Waterton Hall", Studies in the History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (2004), 35, 31-64.
85. A. Croall, 'President's address', Transactions of the Stirling Field Club (1880), 2, 10. While beyond the scope of this paper, it is appropriate to note the possibility of recovering the experiences of visitors to provincial natural history museums. For an account of this sort, albeit focusing on a rather different sort of natural history museum, see V. Carroll, ' The natural history of visiting: responses to Charles Waterton and Waterton Hall", Studies in the History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (2004), 35, 31-64.
86. The Kirkcaldy Naturalists' Society, for example, set up a laboratory committee in 1891 having acquired new premises for their meetings and collections in 1890. See J. B. Bease, Full Ninety Years and More, Kirkcaldy, 1975. The natural history museum in Perth, opened in 1881, included a laboratory for the 'investigation of the structure, anatomy, and composition of plants, animals, minerals &c. '. F. B. White, 'Opening of the Perthshire Natural History Museum', Proceedings of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science (1881), 1, 38.
87. The Kirkcaldy Naturalists' Society, for example, set up a laboratory committee in 1891 having acquired new premises for their meetings and collections in 1890. See J. B. Bease, Full Ninety Years and More, Kirkcaldy, 1975. The natural history museum in Perth, opened in 1881, included a laboratory for the 'investigation of the structure, anatomy, and composition of plants, animals, minerals &c. '. F. B. White, 'Opening of the Perthshire Natural History Museum', Proceedings of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science (1881), 1, 38.
88. This emphasis on civic ritual has been found a fruitful means of enquiry for urban and cultural historians. See, for example, S. Gunn, 'Ritual and civic culture in the English industrial city, c. 1835-1914,' in Urban Governance: Britain and Beyond since 1750 (ed. R. J. Morris and R. H. Trainor), Aldershot, 2000, 226-41; N. Harris, Building Lives: Constructing Rites and Passages, New Haven, 1999. For an account of the art museum as a ritual space see C. Duncan, Civilizing Rituals: Inside Public Art Museums, London, 1995.
89. This emphasis on civic ritual has been found a fruitful means of enquiry for urban and cultural historians. See, for example, S. Gunn, 'Ritual and civic culture in the English industrial city, c. 1835-1914,' in Urban Governance: Britain and Beyond since 1750 (ed. R. J. Morris and R. H. Trainor), Aldershot, 2000, 226-41; N. Harris, Building Lives: Constructing Rites and Passages, New Haven, 1999. For an account of the art museum as a ritual space see C. Duncan, Civilizing Rituals: Inside Public Art Museums, London, 1995.
90. This emphasis on civic ritual has been found a fruitful means of enquiry for urban and cultural historians. See, for example, S. Gunn, 'Ritual and civic culture in the English industrial city, c. 1835-1914,' in Urban Governance: Britain and Beyond since 1750 (ed. R. J. Morris and R. H. Trainor), Aldershot, 2000, 226-41; N. Harris, Building Lives: Constructing Rites and Passages, New Haven, 1999. For an account of the art museum as a ritual space see C. Duncan, Civilizing Rituals: Inside Public Art Museums, London, 1995.
91. A. Wilson, Alloa Society of Natural Science and Archaeology: A Review of the Society's Doings, January, 1863-1900, Alloa, 1901, 14-17.
92. Alberti, 'Placing nature', op. cit. (3), 297-304.
93. Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society, 'Minute of the agreement between the society and the Dumfries and Maxwelltown Astronomical Society', Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society (1881), 2, 82-4.
94. Transactions of the Banffshire Field Club (1883), 1, 123.
95. F. Trentmann, 'Paradoxes of civil society", in idem (ed.), Paradoxes of Civil Society, New York, 2000, 17.
96. J. H. Brooke, 'Science and secularisation', in Reinventing Christianity: Nineteenth-Century Contexts (ed. L. Woodhead), Aldershot, 2001, 229-38. I understand natural theology here as equivalent to what Jonathan Topham has termed a 'design discourse', although I recognize that they were not always so conflated by historical actors. I am sympathetic to the argument that natural theology was never a 'common context' and could be opposed by those who nonetheless allowed a role for discerning divine design in nature. On this see J. R. Topham, 'Science, natural theology, and the practice of Christian piety in early nineteenth-century religious magazines', in Science Serialized: Representations of the Sciences in Nineteenth-Century Periodicals (ed. G. Cantor and S. Shuttleworth), London, 2004, 37-66.
97. J. H. Brooke, 'Science and secularisation', in Reinventing Christianity: Nineteenth-Century Contexts (ed. L. Woodhead), Aldershot, 2001, 229-38. I understand natural theology here as equivalent to what Jonathan Topham has termed a 'design discourse', although I recognize that they were not always so conflated by historical actors. I am sympathetic to the argument that natural theology was never a 'common context' and could be opposed by those who nonetheless allowed a role for discerning divine design in nature. On this see J. R. Topham, 'Science, natural theology, and the practice of Christian piety in early nineteenth-century religious magazines', in Science Serialized: Representations of the Sciences in Nineteenth-Century Periodicals (ed. G. Cantor and S. Shuttleworth), London, 2004, 37-66.
98. Huntly Express, 30 April 1887. Peyton later became a member of a botany class run by Patrick Geddes in 1890 at the University College Dundee. See M. Schafe, University Education in Dundee, 1881-1981: A Pictorial History, Dundee, 1982, 23.
99. Huntly Express, 30 April 1887. Peyton later became a member of a botany class run by Patrick Geddes in 1890 at the University College Dundee. See M. Schafe, University Education in Dundee, 1881-1981: A Pictorial History, Dundee, 1982, 23.
100. Howden, op cit. (24), 12.
101. See Naylor, 'Collecting quoits', op. cit. (3).
102. J. Spence, 'On the objects and working of the Buchan Field Club', Transactions of the Buchan Field Club (1891), 2, 17.
103. H. B. Mitchell, 'Secretary's report', Transactions of the Buchan Field Club (1889), 1, 123.
104. J. Yeats, Transactions of the Banffshire Field Club (1883), 3, 49.
105. For the rise of a preservationist ethic among nineteenth-century field botanists see D. E. Allen, 'Changing attitudes to nature conservation: the botanical perspective', Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (1987), 32, 203-12.
106. Jolly, op. cit. (22), 6.
107. Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals', op. cit. (3), 134; Allen, The Naturalist in Britain, op. cit. (5), 167-9.
108. Alberti, 'Amateurs and professionals', op. cit. (3), 134; Allen, The Naturalist in Britain, op. cit. (5), 167-9.
109. A.B. Herbert, 'Field naturalists', Transactions of the Edinburgh field Naturalists' Society (1884), 1, 189.
110. D. Crystal, Transactions of the Stirling Field Club (1884), 6, 34.
111. C. Maclagan, Transactions of the Stirling Field Club (1884), 6, 35.
112. See Council Minutes of the Stirling Field Club, 7 November 1882, privately held.
113. I am grateful to Mike Taylor, Head of Arts and Heritage, Perth and Kinross Council, for letting me see his unpublished account of this dispute.
114. McIntosh was eventually successful, obtaining the Chair of Civil and Natural History at the University of St Andrews in 1882, but earlier competed with White, among others, for the same chair in 1875. Both unsuccessfully applied for an equivalent post in Aberdeen in 1878. See A. E. Gunther, The Life of 'William Carmichael McIntosh, M.D., F.R.S., Edinburgh, 1977; M. A. Taylor, 'Francis Buchanan White (1842-1894) and Scottish Botany', Scottish Naturalist (1986), 157-73. James Trail's obituary described White as 'independent of profession' although he graduated with an MD from the University of Edinburgh. J. W. H. Trail, 'Francis Buchanan White', Annals of Scottish Natural History (1895), 14, 74.
115. McIntosh was eventually successful, obtaining the Chair of Civil and Natural History at the University of St Andrews in 1882, but earlier competed with White, among others, for the same chair in 1875. Both unsuccessfully applied for an equivalent post in Aberdeen in 1878. See A. E. Gunther, The Life of 'William Carmichael McIntosh, M.D., F.R.S., Edinburgh, 1977; M. A. Taylor, 'Francis Buchanan White (1842-1894) and Scottish Botany', Scottish Naturalist (1986), 157-73. James Trail's obituary described White as 'independent of profession' although he graduated with an MD from the University of Edinburgh. J. W. H. Trail, 'Francis Buchanan White', Annals of Scottish Natural History (1895), 14, 74.
116. McIntosh was eventually successful, obtaining the Chair of Civil and Natural History at the University of St Andrews in 1882, but earlier competed with White, among others, for the same chair in 1875. Both unsuccessfully applied for an equivalent post in Aberdeen in 1878. See A. E. Gunther, The Life of 'William Carmichael McIntosh, M.D., F.R.S., Edinburgh, 1977; M. A. Taylor, 'Francis Buchanan White (1842-1894) and Scottish Botany', Scottish Naturalist (1986), 157-73. James Trail's obituary described White as 'independent of profession' although he graduated with an MD from the University of Edinburgh. J. W. H. Trail, 'Francis Buchanan White', Annals of Scottish Natural History (1895), 14, 74.
117. W. C. McIntosh, History of the Literary and Antiquarian Society of Perth, Perth, 1881, 4.
118. J. Geikie, 'The Perthshire natural history museum', Proceedings of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science (1881), 1, 10.
119. McIntosh, op. cit. (80), 4.
120. Anon., 'Grand scientific excursion to Aberfeldy district', Proceedings of the Alloa Society of Natural Science and Archaeology (1872), 57.
121. A. W. C. Hallen, 'Alloa Society of Natural Science and Archaeology: serai-jubilee celebrations', Alloa Journal and Clackmannanshire Advertiser, 7 April 1888.