Transactions. 41 
SECRETARY'S REPORT. 
The Secretary (Mr J. Rutherford) submitted the following 
report :—This being our annual meeting, it will now be my duty 
to lay before you a resumé of our proceedings during the last 
twelve months. Eight years have now nearly passed since the 
present Society was instituted, and it is very gratifying to find 
that the interest taken in the work—not only by its members, 
but by the general public—still continues. Scarcely a week 
passes without my being told by some one outside the Society 
that they “read with much interest the reports of our Society’s 
meetings which appear from time to time in our local news- 
papers.” TI have little hesitation in saying that these excellent 
reports have been in a great degree instrumental in increasing 
our popularity, prosperity, and usefulness. At the beginning of 
the Session we had a membership of 197. During the Session 27 
new members have been added; 20 from various causes have 
ceased to be members ; 4 gentlemen have taken advantage of the 
new rule which was introduced during the Session constituting 
life members; and the roll now stands—-Life members, 4 ; 
honorary and corresponding members, 15; ordinary members, 
185—making a total of 204, being an increase of 7 during the 
Session. We have had the usual seven monthly Winter Meetings 
and five Summer Field Meetings. The average attendance at the 
Winter Meetings was 31°5, as against 34 in the preceding year ; 
the average attendance at the Field Meetings was 20-4, as against 
26 in the previous year. Although these figures show a slight 
decrease in the attendance at our meetings during the past 
Session, yet when we consider that we have had three Special 
Meetings, all well attended, we have no reason to doubt that 
the interest hitherto manifested in the work of the Society has 
in any way fallen off. 
I regret to tell you that during the last Session we have lost 
from our locality our most distinguished coleopterist, of world- 
wide reputation, who has removed to Southampton. I refer to 
Dr Sharp, whose pleasing disposition and kindly manner endeared 
him to all who had the honour and pleasure of his acquaintance. 
At our monthly Winter Meetings fourteen papers were read, 
being the same number as the preceding year, and some of which 
were of a high-class nature. During the Session we have had 
six Committee Meetings, with an average attendance of 8-6. A 
6 
