c 
of our summer excursions, to present him with a purse of £40 
and a Book, as a token of remembrance. 
We have to thank Mr. Gro. Pricwarp for a beautiful speci- 
men of the Euplectella Speciosa, presented to the Museum ; also, 
the Rey. E. L. Y. Deacuz, for a complete set of Zoological 
Illustrations, which are not only an ornament to our rooms, but 
have proved of considerable use this last winter. 
Your Committee take this opportunity of urging on the 
Members of the Society the importance of collecting together 
the local wealth of the district, whether in animals, plants, or 
fossils. You will see that much has already been done by the 
Geologists of the Society, for, besides the Provis collection, we 
have now 229 named fossils, and 156 named minerals in the 
Museum. For this we are indebted, in a ‘great measure, to 
Mr. Survssoxs. It is still, however, desirable that a more diligent 
search for fossils and minerals should be made in the neighbour- 
hood. Though our Museum has a fair collection of British 
birds, we have as yet no collection of the fauna of the district ; 
and as the summer is now coming on it is to be hoped that 
something will be done to supply this deficiency. Let no 
specimen be considered common, for it is the common things we 
want, and want to know more about. Specimens, to be of value, 
need only to be good of their kind, well preserved. and the place 
noted where found. 
With regard to animals, large or small, many points require 
illustration. Insects may be procured, set out, and preserved 
in their various stages as Caterpillar, Pupa, and Imago ; also, 
their eggs and habitations—all belong to the life-history of the 
animal. Birds are often distinguished by winter and summer 
plumage ; the nature of their food may be discovered by exa- 
mining the crop as well as the spots they frequent; nests and 
eggs are characteristic, and the prepared skeleton is often as 
valuable for instruction as the external form, This preparing of 
skeletons is a branch of museum arrangement which has been 
much overlooked, and is both a delicate and beautiful art—-the 
