The reading room adjoins the stack room of the Hbrary and is 

 provided with suitable reading tables, magazine rack, shelves 

 for books of reference, new books, and especially children's 

 books. Beginning in November the reading room will be open 

 every Saturday. In the absence of a regular librarian the fol- 

 lowing ladies have generously volunteered to assist the staff as 

 attendants;— Miss May Taylor, Miss Mabel Webber, and Mrs. 

 Paul M. Rea. Mr. Fitzhugh Salley has donated a subscription to 

 the Auk, the most important of the ornithological journals. 

 Most of the popular magazines as well as twenty five new books 

 are the gift of Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Sewell. 



A special invitation is extended to school-children to attend 

 the opening of the reading room on October 31st. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 



The Charleston Natural History Society held its first Autumn 

 meeting on the afternoon of October 15 in the lecture hall of the 

 new Museum building. Mrs. Paul M. Rea, President of the Soci- 

 ety, and Prof. Rea, Director of the Museum, welcomed the mem- 

 bers. The meeting was devoted mainly to accounts of summer 

 work by several of the members and to the report of the execu- 

 tive committee, which was unusually full and possessed especial 

 importance, embodying the plans by which the committee 

 hopes to systematize the proceedings of the Society at its meet- 

 ings and to facilitate and render more valuable the observations 

 of birds in the field. The Society has done much to awaken in 

 Charleston an interest in bird-study and to train keen and accu- 

 rate observers. It has accumulated valuable data on the habits 

 of the birds of our coast and its list of members has grown stead- 

 ily \mtil now it contains more than forty names. The Society 

 has reached a stage of development when its efforts, if properly 



directed, can produce results of great importance. 



56 



