hitherto confounded, owing to its chemical inertness. It is a 

 compound and not a simple substance like Helium. 



The Club is now governed by a Code of Rules which was passed 

 last year. They were drawn up with much care and consideration 

 under the supervision of a sub-committee, and on the lines of 

 larger scientific societies. 



The resignation of the Honorary Treasurer is one of the most 

 regrettable circumstances in connection with the subject, as by it 

 we lose the services of an efficient Officer, to whom the Club is 

 much indebted for his devotion to its interests from the year 1883 

 to the date of his resignation, 1900. The Club, on the other 

 hand, has to be congratulated on the appointment of his 

 successor, Captain Elwes. I feel there is no one more capable 

 of fulfilling the duties of the Honorary Treasurership, and I thank 

 him most heartily for so kindly coming forward to help us in our 

 difficulties. During the past year Lord Eustace Cecil, Mr. W. 

 H. Hudleston, and Mr. Vaughan Cornish have been elected 

 Vice-Presidents to succeed the late Sir Talbot Baker and General 

 Fox-Pitt-Rivers. Mr. Clement Reid, Mr. A. S. Woodward, Mr. 

 R. Lydekker, and Mr. A. J. Jukes-Browne have been elected 

 Honorary Members. Their names testify to the high estimation 

 in which the Dorset Field Club is held by the scientific world. 



In my Anniversary Address last year I endeavoured to 

 show that the Palaeozoic Beds contain the remains of three only 

 of the five Vertebrate Orders, Fish, Amphibians, and Reptiles, 

 which succeed each other in an ascending series of progressive 

 organisation. I was then unable to get farther than the Fish, and 

 hope now to be able to dispose of the Amphibia and Reptiles. 

 The Amphibians made their first appearance in the Carboniferous 

 Age and the Reptiles in that of the Permian. As yet neither 

 Mammal nor Bird has been found in any of the Palaeozoic Beds. 

 Amphibia breathe through gills, during the earlier portion of 

 their lives, thus connecting the Fish with the higher Orders of 

 the Vertebrata. One of the peculiar characters of the group is 

 the metamorphosis of its members. Like Fish they are 

 oviparous and cold-blooded, and ultimately attain the true 



