French Federation of Speleology French Federation of Speleology The French Federation of Speleology (, FFS), is a French organisation that represents all persons practicing or studying caving and canyoning and promotes the study and conservation of caves. It was formed in 1963 by the amalgamation of two organisations, the (CNS), or National Committee of Speleology, and the (SSF), or Speleological Society of France. Founded by Édouard-Alfred Martel in 1895, the was the first organisation of its kind in Europe. Between 1895 and 1900 the society published a journal entitled "Spelunca". The society folded in 1914 at the start of World War I. After the
European and American voyages of scientific exploration exploration. belonged to the Committee on Fisheries of the United States and it carried out numerous scientific expeditions under the direction of Alexander Emanuel Agassiz (1835–1910). The primary goal was an inventory of the Pacific fishery reserves but many other observations are carried out by Townsend and other scientists. Zoologist Walter Rothschild commissioned the Webster-Harris Expedition to the Galápagos Islands from June 1897 to February 1898. This expedition on the schooner "Lila & Mattie" is well-described in the 1983 book titled "Dear Lord Rothschild" by Miriam Rothschild. In the 1936 book "Oceanic Birds of South America" by Robert Cushman Murphy,