Ix. THE HON. EDITOR'S REPORT. 



THE HON. EDITOR'S REPORT. 



In the preparation of Volume XXXI. I find myself in 

 danger of being overwhelmed by an embarras de richesse, 

 through the possession of an unusual number of papers, 

 of a degree of importance that renders their omission, and 

 even curtailment, a question of some difficulty. 



The contents include the following subjects : " Matthew 

 Prior," by the Rev. J. M. J. Fletcher ; " Dorset Privateering," 

 by Mr. H. Symonds ; " Weymouth and Melcombe Regis 

 during the Civil War," by Mr. W. Bowles Barrett ; " The 

 Bettiscombe Skull," by Mr. J. S. Udal ; " The Pitts of 

 Blandford St. Mary," by the Rev. C. Almack ; a further 

 contribution on British Arachnidese from the Rev. O. 

 Pickard -Cambridge ; the remaining sections of Mr. E. A. 

 Fry's " Dorset Chantries ; " " The Normans in Dorset," by 

 the Hon. Editor ; besides the Mansel-Pleydell Prize Essay 

 on Geology, by Dr. W. Theophilus Ord (to whom our 

 congratulations are due) ; and, we hope, a short account of 

 this year's excavations at Maumbury, from Mr. St. George 

 Gray. To the President we are indebted for the text of 

 his valuable address, and for the Tables of Natural Phenomena 

 so ably compiled by him. 



The question of printing a catalogue of the great collection 

 of Dorset Deeds given to us by Mr. E. A. Fry, upon which we 

 have had the benefit of much learned and useful labour given 

 by Mr. H. Symonds, is occupying the attention of the Publica- 

 tion Committee. 



NOTE. The important Paper on " Lobsters " (read by Mr. F. J. Barnes 

 on Dec. 14th, 1909). will, it is hoped, appear in the next volume of our 

 Proceedings. [Eo.] 



