iv. PREFACE. 
To enable the printer to execute his work with desirable 
speed, the volume has been divided into two portions, 
which have been in progress simultaneously ; the for- 
mer containing the proceedings at the several meetings, the 
latter, such papers as seemed better adapted for separate 
perusal. This arrangement has necessitated a distinet 
paging of the two portions. 
The Committee had hoped to give a perfect list of the 
objects deposited in the Society’s Museum, at Taunton; but 
it has been found impossible, as yet, to bestow the necessary - 
labour in classifying and cataloguing. They beg to call the 
attention of the friends of the Society to the opportunity 
now presented for securing to the county one of the most 
valuable collections of fossils, &c. to be found in the king- 
dom,—that of the late Rev. J. Williams, of Bleadon. The 
Society is not rich enough to make the purchase out of its 
own funds ; it must be done by the subscriptions of in- 
dividuals. 
It is hoped that members will not decline the labour of 
sending in replies to the questions circulated by the Com- 
mittee, and which will be found at page 75 et seq. of the 
first part of the present volume. They may also do service 
by making it known, as they have opportunity, that work- 
men finding fossils, coins, or other objects of interest, will 
be rewarded for communicating their discoveries to the 
secretaries. 
