The Report. 239 



by Mr. Cunnington to-morrow, Bradford must form a prominent 

 feature in any Wiltshire county history hereafter to be published . 

 He did hope and trust that the present meeting might not be 

 allowed to pass away without some steps being taken to forward so 

 desirable and so praiseworthy an object. 



The Rev. Mr. Lukis (one of the General Secretaries of the 

 Society) then proceeded to read 



THE REPORT. 



The Committee of the Wilts Archaeological and Natural History 

 Society commence their report of the proceedings of the past year 

 by congratulating the members on the flourishing state of their 

 Society. From the period of its inauguration, in 1853, it has con- 

 tinued to advance, and may now be fairly stated to have taken root 

 in every corner of the county. The number of subscribing mem- 

 bers now on our books amounts to 376, being a considerable in- 

 crease over last year. 



But while congratulating you on the present prospects of the 

 Society, and the number of its existing members, your Committee 

 have to deplore the loss, by death, withdrawal, or removal from the 

 county, of nine of our body. They cannot pass over in silence the 

 grievous blow that has been dealt, not only to this Society, but to 

 the whole Zoological and Archaeological world, by the deaths of 

 Mr. Yarrell and Mr. Britton. 



Mr. Yarrell was an honorary member of this Society, and there- 

 fore, your Committee may be allowed to pay a passing tribute to 

 his memory. As a naturalist he was unrivalled in this countrj'-, 

 and his well-known Histories of British Fishes and British Birds, 

 (the third edition of which last work was published just three weeks 

 before his death,) will long remain as text-books to Zoologists, 

 being by far the most copious and perfect works extant on the sub- 

 ject, and to collecting materials for which he had devoted all his 

 energies during a long and active life. If we add to this the con- 

 stant kindness and urbanity with which he received a continual 

 flow of enquiries on points in dispute amongst naturalists; the 

 readiness with which ho listened to arguments ; the diligence with 

 which ho strove to solve doubts; something may be understood of 



