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would c^ive eleiiientnrj lectures at each of them similar in character to- 

 those we have always had at the general excur-,ions. My thanks are 

 due to the leaders, particvilarly to Messrs. Fletcher, Harrington and 

 Ami, for the able and efficient manner in which my snggestioa ^as 

 carried out. At nearly every outing simple elementary lectures 

 were wiven on the Geological formation, plants and insects of the 

 <listricts visited, in such a style as to be interesting and instructive not 

 only to the student of those branches, but to every one present, no 

 matter how slight their knowledge might be of Natural History. That 

 a great additional interest was taken in these excursions, on account of 

 the addresses, was evident from the improved attendance and the 

 anxiety shown by those present to be at the rendezvous in time to hear 

 the leaders, and by the manifest interest taken in their remarks. 



The council of last }ear recommended to their successors that 

 instead of issuing our transactions in a yearly part, which rarely 

 appeared before the following winter, we should publish a monthly 

 magazine under the name of the " Ottawa Naturalist." We have 

 carried out their recommendation, and I think our little paper has been 

 received with general favor by our members. Most of the papers and 

 I'eports read at last winter's Soirees have appealed in it, and the next 

 number will contain the last of them. We will now be able to print 

 our papers shortly after they are read instead of waiting eight or ten 

 months as in the past, when, as in many cases, they had ceased to be of 

 interest. Another great advantage of a monthly publication is that we 

 arc able to give an official account of all our excursions during the 

 month that is past and announcements of those for the following 

 month, so that those members who are not able to take part in them 

 are in a much better position to know what the Club is doing than bv 

 the old system. The last number issued (December) contains the pro- 

 gramme of Soirees and afternoon Lectures for the present winter 

 season, and you will, on referring to it, find that the meetings promise 

 to be no less instructive and interesting than those of former years. 



The number of our corresponding members remains the same as 

 last year. Prof. Saunders, who has been in that position for several 

 years, having been appointed Director to the Experimental Farm, and 



