Hi PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



The Council have again, with much regret, to record the loss of 

 one member by death. The Countess of Essex, who was elected a 

 member of the Society at its first meeting, died on the 5th of May, 

 beloved and esteemed by all who knew her. 



The census of the Society at the end of the years 1875 and 1876 

 was as follows : — 



1875 1876 



Honorary Members 5 8 



Life Members S 15 



Annual Subscribers 140 137 



Total 150 160 



Three parts of the first volume of the Society's ' Transactions ' 

 have been printed and distributed to the members during the year, 

 making in all five parts ; and a sixth is now in the press and will 

 shortly be issued. Arrangements have been made for this and 

 future parts to be published in London, by Messrs. Hardwicke and 

 Bogue, 192, Piccadilly, from whom also any of the parts previously 

 published may now be obtained. They will still be kept on sale 

 as before at the Watford Public Library, and at the printers', 

 Messrs. Stephen Austin & Sons, Hertford. 



The following are the principal papers and lectures that have 

 been read or delivered during the year 1876 : — 



Jan. 13. — Meteorological Observations taken at Cassiobury House from May 

 to December, 1875; by the Right Honourable the Earl of Essex. 



. On the Construction, Adjustment, and Use of Meteorological In- 



struments ; by Thomas Heather. 



. On the supposed Chalybeate Spring at "Watford, and on other 



Medicinal Waters in Herts; by E. A. Pryor, B.A., F.L.S. 

 Feb. 10. — Anniversary Address; by the President, John Evans, F.R.S., 



F.S.A., F.G.S., etc. 

 March 9. — On some of the simpler methods of Microscopical Mounting ; by 



Arthur Cottam, F.R.A.S. 

 April 13. — The I'olarisation of Light ; by James U. Harford. (First 



lecture.) 

 Jlay 11. — The Geology and Water Supply of the Neighbourhood of 



Watford ; by the Rev. James C. Clutterbuck, M.A. 

 June 8. — Meteorological Observations taken at Oaklands, Hcmpstead-road, 



Watford, from 1871 to 1875 ; by Edward Harrison. 

 .On the Advantage of observing I'henological Phenomena ; by 



Lieut. Richard B. Croft, R.X., F.L.S. , F.R.M.S. 



. The Hertfordsliire Bourne; by John Evans, F.H.S., etc., President. 



Oct. 12. — The Polarisation of Light ; by James U. Harford. (Second 



lecture.) 

 Nov. 9. — The Hertfordshire Ordnance Bench Marks, from the ' Abstracts 



of Levelling' of the Ordnance Survey; by John Honkinson, 



F L.S., F.G.S., Hon. Sec. 

 Dec. 14. — The Eocenes of England and their extension in Hertfordshire ; 



by J. Logan Lobley, F.G.S., F.R.G.S. 



In addition to these papers, several shorter communications, 

 relating principally to the Geology and Botany of the county, have 

 been read, and the Council Avould urge upon the members never to 

 allow any observation, however trivial it might appear, that may 

 in any way add to our knowledge of the Natural History of Hert- 

 fordshire, to pass unrecorded. That an observation of a certain 



