THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. xlv. 



and spring to feed upon these shallow sandy flats. They had 

 transported some of them to the Doggerbank, and it had been 

 found that the average growth of those so transported had been 

 about twice what it would have been had the fish been allowed 

 to remain in the shallows. The President had told them that the 

 age of flat fish could now be told by the rings on the ear bones. 

 The old method of measuring was from nose to tail ; but the 

 experiments which he had mentioned had shown that if fish, 

 like human beings, were given a fair chance of developing, they 

 would take advantage of it, and size therefore was not a reliable 

 criterion of age. 



THE HON. SECRETARY'S ANNUAL REPORT. The HON. 

 SECRETARY then read his Report as follows : 



The last volume of the Club's Proceedings contains such an exhaustive account 

 of the year's work that there is very little left for the Hon. Secretary to 

 report. The Membership of the Club has now reached the maximum number 

 400 and there seems at present little likelihood of any abatement in the com- 

 petition for occasional vacancies. The summer meetings were so well attended 

 last year that, after paying all the expenses thereof, I find myself with the 

 embarrassingly large balance in hand of over 20. That the Members of the 

 Club should at once benefit by this balance seems only right and fitting, and it is, 

 therefore, proposed to reduce the "incidental expenses" charged on the cards 

 of admission to the summer meetings this year from 2s. to Is. 6d. This will 

 probably be the means of bringing the balance in hand on the summer meetings' 

 account down to a working level next year. The accounts for the past year have 

 been duly audited, and the vouchers pertaining thereto lie upon the table. 



THE HON. EDITOR'S REPORT. Mr. PENTIN also read his 

 report as Honorary Editor as follows : 



The following are to be the first five items in the new volume : " The 

 Architectural History of St. Mary's Church at Cerne," by the Eev. C. W. H. 

 Dicker ; " The Old Building on Poole Quay, known as the Town Cellars," by 

 Mr. W. K. Gill ; " Notes on the Dorset Flora," by the Eev. E. F. Linton ; the 

 first portion of another contribution on " Dorset Chantries," by Mr. E. A. Fry ; 

 and " Dorset Tokens of the IFth and 19th Centuries, and Medals relating to the 

 County," by Mr. Henry Symonds. The Eev. O. Pickard- Cambridge has 

 prepared another paper on " British Arachnida," and Mr. W. de C. Prideaux on 

 " Dorset Brasses ;" Mr. Sidney Heath has promised to contribute another paper 

 on " The Cross-legged Effigies of Dorset," and Mr. B. Fossett Lock will con- 

 clude " The Cartulary of Cerne Abbey." The President's Anniversary 



