ties of the department of public instruction, has had a most suc- 

 cessful year. The membership has increased to more than one 

 hundred and thirty paid-up members — a marked contrast to the 

 little group of a dozen or fifteen members of which it was com- 

 posed a few years ago. The work of the Museum through this 

 society may fairly be credited with having developed in the 

 community a very real interest in natural science. The Museum, 

 in turn, has received important assistance from the Society in the 

 prosecution of the biological survey, in the preparation of speci- 

 mens, and in the purchase of equipment. The Society comprises 

 two sections: one for adults and one for children. The younger 

 section has always included some of the most earnest and active 

 members. 



At the monthly meetings of section A the director has given a 

 series of informal talks on invertebrate and vertebrate animals, 

 Dr. Burt G. Wilder spoke on the silk spider of South Carolina, 

 and Messrs. F. M. Weston, Jr. and Ellison A. WiUiams have 

 spoken on birds. In the early fall Miss Bragg lead a special 

 study of common butterflies and moths, participated in by both sec- 

 tions. Section B has made a special study of birds. The meet- 

 ings of both sections have been supplemented by a series of field 

 trips conducted by Miss Bragg. The Society has purchased metal 

 cases for the preservation of bird skins and insect collections. 

 Members have mounted a large number of herbarium specimens, 

 prepared many bird skins, and assisted Miss Bragg in arrang- 

 ing exhibits. 



In October a class in botany was organized by the curator 

 among the members of section A. This course is designed to ac- 

 quaint the members with the local flora and with methods of 

 plant analysis. The class consists of twenty members. 



Evening lectures, which have necessarily been omitted while 

 the Museum has been in process of transfer from the old build- 

 ing, were resumed in December, when the director began a course 

 of six lectures on Heredity and Kindred Problems. It is hoped 

 that such lectures may be given each year and that they may in 



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