39 



The President tendered a vote of thanks to Mr. Lee 

 for the dredge with which he had offered to present the So- 

 ciety. Remarking on the huge stones which were now 

 being raised from the bottom of the sea off Dover, he said 

 there was upon them a very curious class of marine 

 zoophytes ; on one stone he counted no less than seven dis- 

 tinct classes of animals and sixty different species. He 

 had hoped that Dr. Astley or some other learned local mem- 

 ber would have given them a paper on " Deep Water Fish- 

 ing ;" but Dr. Astley, he believed, had been called away 

 from the town to-day on professional business. However, 

 he trusted that by the time the Society met again at Dover 

 Mr. Bottle, with the assistance of Dr. Astley and Mr. 

 Mummery would give them a paper on one of those blocks 

 of stone he referred to, upon which was deposited a large 

 quantity of marine life, and he was sui-e it would be read 

 with much interest. 



The Rev. T. B. W. Briggs proposed the health of the 

 vicp-Chairman, Mr. Alexander Bottle, who in this district 

 had thrown so much spirit into the movements of the 

 Society. In all the local districts, if they had not a local 

 secretary or gentleman who manifested an interest in these 

 researches, the Society would be a dead letter in the com- 

 munity. Mr. Bottle, being a man of considerable intelli- 

 gence and information, brought a vast amount of scientific 

 knowledge to bear on natural history or any other subject 

 which he undertook, and he felt gratified that Dover had 

 him to take so prominent a part in their proceedings. 

 (Hear, hear.) 



Mr. Bottle acknowledged the compliment paid him, and 

 said with reference to the stone blocks alluded to by the 

 President, he should be only too happy to make a record, 

 with the assistance of Dr. Astley and Mr. Mummery, of 

 his observations. He also acknowledged the vote of thank? 

 on the part of Mr. Irons— who, he said, had gone to attend 

 a meeting in reference to the erection of a new church in 



