liv 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



provided for having signified their intention of taking part in tliis 

 meeting, it was decided to engage a special train from St. Albans 

 to Hatfield and back. The Great Northern Railway Company ran 

 this train for the sum of £2 beyond the ordinary fares — an expendi- 

 ture the Council are gratified to state was fully warranted by the 

 large number of members who took advantage of the arrangement. 

 Including a few who arrived by different routes, the Society was 

 represented at Hatfield by a party of from 60 to 70 ; and the 

 Geologists' Association, in conjunction with which the meeting 

 had been arranged, was represented by about the same number, 

 making altogether a party of fully 130, to whom Hatfield House 

 and Park, and the Hatfield Park brick-fields, were tkrown open by 

 the kind permission of the Marquess of Salisbury. At the other 

 meetings, of which the thii'd and fifth took place in conjunction 

 with the Quekett Microscopical Club, from about twenty to thirty 

 members were present. 



For hospitality kindly afforded at the field meetings the Society 

 is indebted to three of its members — Mr. Silvester, Mr. Hollings- 

 worth, and your President. To Mr. Evans the thanks of the 

 Society are also especially due for his invaluable assistance in other 

 ways. He has rendered the field meetings the medium of imparting 

 a knowledge of the geological structure and features of the country 

 traversed ; and at the evening meetings, whatever has been the 

 subject of discussion, and a very wide range has been traversed 

 during the year, he has thrown some new light upon it, or added 

 information which has considerably increased the interest of the 

 meeting and enhanced its value. It is with much regret that the 

 Council have to announce the expiration of the term of his Presi- 

 dency in accordance with your laws — a regret which they feel 

 assured will be equally felt by all the members of the Society. 



The Council have also to regret that your Treasurer has tendered 

 his resignation, owing to his numerous engagements preventing his 

 regular attendance at the meetings and rendering it impossible for 

 him to devote the time to the afi'airs of the Society that he would 

 wish. To Mr. Cottam, as one of the three who took the first steps 

 towards the formation of the Society, as well as for his valuable 

 services as Treasurer during the first two years of its existence, the 

 Society is greatly indebted. 



The Society continues to be in a satisfactory financial condition, 

 the balance in hand being considerably larger than at the end of 

 the previous year. The capital account, consisting of the amounts 

 received for life compositions, ha^dng increased from £25 to £75, 

 it has been decided to invest it in the purchase of Consols, and the 

 Council have appointed three life members — Dr. Brett, ilr. John 

 Hopkiuson, and Mr. W. Lepard Smith — Trustees, and in their 

 names the funded and other property of the Society will be hold. 



Numerous donations to the Society's library have been received 

 during the year, including some very valuable works, of which the 

 pu))lications of the United States Geological and Geographical 

 Survey of the Territories, presented by your Honorary Member, 



