XXXVUl 



The thanks of the Society were accorded to Mr. John Hopkinson 

 retiring from the office of President ; to Dr. Alfred T. Brett and 

 Mr. E. B. Croft retiring from the office of Vice-President ; and 

 to Mr. Percival Bosanquet, Dr. Alfred Eteson, and Mr. F. W. 

 Silvester retiring from the Council. 



Hepokt of the Council for the Yeae 1892. 



In presenting the 18th Annual Report, the Council of the Hert- 

 fordshire I^atural History Society has pleasure in stating that the 

 Society maintains its flourishing condition, and that the number of 

 members has increased. 



During the year twenty-four ordinary members have been 

 elected, twelve have resigned, and the Council regrets to have 

 to record tbe loss by death, of one honorary member, Sir Richard 

 Owen, K.C.B., F.R.S., and two ordinary members, Sir Oscar 

 Clayton, M.D., and the Earl of Essex. 



The number of members at the end of the years 1891 and 1892 

 was as follows : — 



1891. 1892. 



Honorary Members 20 19 



Life Members 48 51 



Annual Subscribers 185 192 



253 262 



By the death of Sir Richard Owen we have lost the greatest 

 comparative anatomist of our day. Born in 1804, and educated for 

 the medical profession, in 1826 the Hunterian Museum of the 

 Royal College of Surgeons was placed under his charge, and in 

 1856 he was appointed Superintendent of the Department of 

 Natural History in the British Museum, a position he held for over 

 30 years. To his energy and perseverance we are chiefly indebted 

 for the present admirable condition and the location of our national 

 natural-history collections. He was elected an honorary member 

 of the Society in the year 1885. 



Sir Oscar Clayton had a distinguished professional career. For 

 a considerable time he was Surgeon in Ordinary to H.R.H. the 

 Duke of Edinburgh. He was elected a member of the Society 

 in the year 1877. 



The Right Honourable Arthur Algernon Capell, sixth Earl of 

 Essex, was one of the original members of the Society, and one of 

 the earliest members of the Council. He took from the first a very 

 great interest in the Society's work, especially in the department 

 of Meteorology, communicating to our ' Transactions ' the results of 

 his own observations at Cassiobury.* By his kind permission the 

 Society has held many Field Meetings in Cassiobury Park, the 

 gardens and private grounds adjoining his residence having on each 

 occasion been thrown open to our members. 



* ' Trans. Watford N. H. Soc.,' Vol. I, p. 132, Vol. II, p. 89. 



