Proceedings. Ixv 



arranged for by our Vice-President, Mr. Philip Crowley. The 

 lecture was given in the large Public Hall, and there was an 

 attendance of about 300. The subject of the locture was 

 " Extinct Monsters," and it included mention of sea-scorpions 

 (Pteryfjotus), from the Old Eed Sandstone ; of the great fish-Uzards 

 [Iclithyosauria), long-necked sea-lizards (Plesiosatcria), and flying 

 dragons [Pterodactyla) ; of the DinosMma, huge land-reptiles of 

 a kangaroo-like shape, which form with the ostriches a link be- 

 tween reptiles and birds ; of the sea-serpents of the chalk (Mosa- 

 smirus) ; of the ancient mammals of generalised type discovered 

 by Prof. Marsh in the American Tertiaries ; of Indian monsters 

 from the Siwalik Hills ; of the giant sloths and armadilloes of 

 South America ; of the mammoth, contemporary with early man, 

 and still occasionally found in the flesh embedded in the frozen 

 soil of Siberia ; of the woolly rhinoceros ; of the giant birds of 

 New Zealand ; and of the comparatively recently extinct sirenian, 

 Steller's sea-cow. The lecture was illustrated by about fifty 

 lantern-slides, representing these extinct forms of life. 



The Twenty-fifth Annual Soiree of the Club was held at the 

 Public Hall, on Nov. 28th. The attendance was 174 members 

 and exhibitors and 368 visitors, making a total of 542, against 

 567 last year, and tbere was consequently a slight falling off in 

 the receipts. Though the attendance thus showed a slight 

 diminution, there was no falling off in the number and interest 

 of the exhibits, which, so far as my memory serves me, quite 

 came up to any former occasion. Amono: the principal exhibits 

 were Bellarmine pottery and coins found in the recent excava- 

 tions in High Street, and other antiquities, lent by the Corpora- 

 tion of Croydon ; a very extensive collection of British birds' 

 nests and eggs, by Mr. P. Crowley ; a large group of stuffed 

 birds, skins, &c., by Mr. C. Thorpe ; a very interesting collection 

 of obsolete and primitive household appliances, by Mr. E.Lovett; 

 a collection of antique candle-snuffers of various design and 

 curious contrivance, by Mr. E. Bidwell; Japanese art-bronzes, 

 by Mr. Alfred Parsons ; a large collection of cultivations of 

 chromogenic and pathogenic bacteria, by Dr. F. R. Blaxall ; 

 cultivations of bacteria from sewage, by Dr. J. M. Hobson ; 

 beautifully dried specimens of British plants, by Mr. C. E. 

 Salmon ; an ancient jewel-casket, by Mr. H. C. Thompson ; 

 insects, by Mr. C. H. Goodman ; minerals, by various exhibitors ; 

 and a collection of British fossils, by your President. The 

 annual bouquet of flowers gathered in the open air at Addiscombe 

 that morning contained about 138 different species and varieties, 

 as against 113 last year and in 1892, 140 in 1891, and 121 in 

 1890. November, 1893, was one of the few cold months of a 

 warm year, whereas November, 1894, was warm after a cold 



