254 
ADDRESS OF THE RETIRING PRESIDENT, T. ALGERNON 
CHAPMAN, ESQ., M.D. 
Gentlemen,—The present meeting brings to a close the year during which 
you have done me the honour of placing me in your Presidential chair, and, by 
the rules of our Club, it is necessary that I should address you on the proceedings 
of the Club during my term of office. The rule is, I think, a useful one, although 
it presses with undue weight on one who has no striking events to chronicle and is 
lacking in the literary ability to make his escape, like the cuttle, behind a cloud 
of ink ; I fear you will add that a fair share of the penalty is also paid by those 
who have to listen to the address. 
Although the past year has been uneventful, and although our field meet- 
ings have not had all the brilliance of some that I can remember in former years, 
and especially although they have been more than usually lacking in any real 
work in the field, our proceedings have not been altogether a blank. Our meetings 
served their most important purpose of bringing us together, and stimulating such 
scientific ardour as some of us found ourselves possessed of. And we have had a 
few good papers to add to our transactions. The fungus meeting was marked by 
the visit of an unusual wealth of distinguished mycological savants, and, despite 
the weather, some real work was done and some valuable papers were communi- 
cated. On the same occasion the pomological section of the club, so recently 
established, gave remarkable evidence of vitality, and promises under the powerful 
®gis of Dr. Bull to produce valuable results. Our museum has during the year 
emerged from its chaotic condition into a state of order and efficiency ; a result 
due not only to the munificence of Mr. Rankin, but no less also to the personal 
care and interest which he devotes to it. 
The first field meeting of the year took place on Tuesday, May 23, at Stoke 
Edith, for the Woolhope Valley, On arrival here the business of the club was 
transacted. The members then proceeded to Purton, on the way meeting with 
Dr. Grindrod, who furnished the party with much informat‘on as to the palzonto- 
logy of the neighbourhood. At Purton, a quarry of Upper Ludlow and Aymestry 
Limestone was visited, in which many of its characteristic fossils were seen, but 
no rarities were met with. The section of Upper Ludlow in the lane was noted, 
and considerable attention was given to the section at the bottom of the lane, 
where the passage beds between the Upper Ludlow and Downton sandstone is 
exposed. The bone bed is here represented by a stratum containing bits of carbon, 
pachytheca, &c., but few, if any, fish bones. Previous investigation had largely 
removed the most accessible portions of this bed, so that the party were unable 
to do more than fully identify it; the more so as time was short and return had 
to be made at once to Stoke Edith Gardens to meet the Dudley Club. Seager 
Hill was then ascended, and the topography of the valley studied. After dinner 
we were favoured with a good paper on the Clear-winged Sphinges of the district, 
by Dr. Wood, of Tarrington, The district, under Dr. Wood’s sharp research, 
