varied by disquisitions upon the Fine Arts, to which an 

 accomplished member, lately deceased,* furnished several 

 able and tasteful contributions. The Society has been 

 recently augmented by the valuable accession of the 

 Members of the " Natural History Society" of Liverpool. 



Tn conformity with the existing Laws, the general mode 

 of imparting information has been by written Essays on 

 subjects previously announced ; and in this form many 

 valuable Papers have been from time to time communicated. 

 Although it may fairly be said that some volumes might 

 have been exclusively filled with these productions, the 

 Society has heretofore refrained from any publication of 

 the kind alluded to, and various Papers contributed originally 

 to it, have in consequence made their appearance in the 

 Transactions of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies, and 

 in the well-known journals of London, Edinburgh, &c. 

 The writers of most of these Memoirs are still living ; but 

 any further allusion to them in this in this would be 

 unnecessary and inexpedient. The present Members of the 

 Society, however, have expressed an unanimous desire that 

 their future proceedings should be published in a small 

 volume after the close of each Session, commencing with 

 the last; and have confided to their Council the task of 

 printing the Papers entire, or of condensing them in a 

 greater or less degree, according to their discretion. Had 

 the Council been at liberty to select their materials from 



* Thomas Winstanley, Esq. 



