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ANNUAL MEETING, 

 January 20, 1886. 



R. M'Lachi,an, Esq., F.R.S., &c., President, in the chair. 



An abstract of the Treasurer's accounts for 1885 was read by Mr. H. T. 

 Stainton, one of the Auditors. 



The Secretary read the following: — 



Eeport of the Council for 1885. 



In accordance with the Bye-Laws, the Council begs to present the 

 following report : — 



The grant of a Royal Charter of Incorporation, which bears date the 

 20th July, 1885, has supplied what was wanting to complete the legal and 

 scientific status of the Society, and is a source of satisfaction to the 

 Council, which will, it is confidently hoped, be shared by all the Fellows 

 of the Society. 



As the election of Annual Subscribers is for the future prohibited by 

 the amended Bye-Laws, and the existing number of Subscribers is barely 

 more than a score, the Council invites those gentlemen to qualify as 

 Fellows, and tliereby place all the members on an equality, so that, on the 

 next revision of our Bye-Laws, reference to the class of Subscribers may be 

 altogether omitted. 



The vacancies in our list of Honorary Fellows occasioned by the deaths 

 of von Siebold and Milne-Edwards have been filled by the election of 

 Mr. Snellen, of Rotterdam, and Dr. Dohrn, of Stettin. 



The Society now consists of ten Honorary Foreign Fellows, 40 Life 

 Fellows, 186 Fellows, and the above-mentioned Annual Subscribers, the 

 whole of whom it is hoped will soon be assimilated with and swell the 

 number of our Ordinary Fellows. 



The Transactions for the year, exclusive of the Proceedings, form 

 a Volume of 450 fages, containing ten Memoirs, contributed by as many 

 Authors, and illustrated with ten plates, of which nine are coloured, and 

 for the remaining one the Society is indebted to Mr. George Lewis. 



