XV11. 



THE ELECTION OF OFFICERS. The Rev. Sir T. Baker moved, and 

 Mr. Alfred Pope seconded, the re-appointment of the President, the 

 Treasurer, and the Secretary for the ensuing year, which was agreed to. 



The election of New Members then took place, bringing the number of 

 Subscribers to over 200 the highest figure it has yet reached. 



The selection of suitable spots for the Summer Meetings was the next 

 point on the programme, and led to a prolonged discussion, since several 

 generous invitations had been sent in from residents in various parts of 

 the county. Eventually a ballot was taken, resulting in the selection of 

 Cerne, Wimbome, Weymouth, and Shaftesbury for the succeeding four 

 months. Shaftesbury, however, was ultimately given up owing to the* 

 difficulty of reaching it and the lateness of the season. 



The Presidential Address on the results of the year 1887 was then 

 delivered. Mr. Mansel-Pleydell referred to the death of Mr. Charles 

 Wame, the archaeologist of Dorset, and of the Rev. W. Kendall, Vicar 

 of East Lulworth, whose sudden death had deprived the Field Club of a 

 paper which he was engaged in preparing on " The Traces of Iron- 

 smelting in Prehistoric Times disclosed at East Lulworth." He then 

 alluded to the excavations which General Pitt-Rivers was so successfully 

 carrying on at Bockley Dyke and at other spots in the neighboureood of 

 Rushmore, and which brought into prominence the importance of the 

 Roman invasion in that part of Britain and the adoption of much of the 

 civilization of the Romans by the British inhabitants of Dorsetshire. 

 The Dyke was intimately connected with the Britons, and appeared to 

 have been constructed, either subsequently to, or certainly not long 

 before, the departure of the Romans from that part of the island. The 

 conformation and extension of the rampart was very suggestive, and 

 would indicate the existence of obstructive woods and forests in the 

 neighbourhood, which would account for the abrupt termination of the 

 Dyke at either extremity. It was evident that the Roman Road which 

 flanked the Dyke was constructed first, and to make way for it a devia- 

 tion was necessary, and the rampart allowed to continue its course 

 unimpeded. Here, probably, the last straggle of the Britons and their 

 Saxon invaders took place. The publication by General Pitt-Rivers of 

 the results of his excavations would probably subvert much that had 

 formerly been accepted\ with regard to the origin of this earthwork. 

 After a general review of the results of palreontological research in 

 tracing the history of the earth since paheozoic times, and the variations 

 in climate which the evidence pointed to, the President passed to a review 

 of the more purely local work accomplished in Dorsetshire during the 

 previous twelve months, Within the last few months they had been able 



