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ourselves upon the fact that we have maintained our position, 

 that our indoor meetings have not fallen off, and that our 

 field meetings have been well attended in spite of continuous 

 bad weather. In this last respect the past season has been 

 phenomenal, and though I believe the temperature of the 

 whole year has been above the average, the summer has been 

 singularly deficient in warm, sunny days, and insects on the 

 wing have been very scarce. 



Messrs. Adkin and Turner succeeded last season in in- 

 troducing us to new localities — a very desirable thing to do. 

 There are many variations that might be made in the routes 

 chosen, even for old and well-tried localities, but in practice 

 the conductors are handicapped by three things— the railway 

 service, the shortness of the afternoon, and the question of 

 commissariat. There are places within twenty miles of 

 London not yet visited by us as a Society where the distance 

 from a railway station, combined with an inconvenient 

 service, puts the place beyond the range of practical politics 

 for an afternoon excursion. There are others that might be 

 compassed, but the would-be conductor shrinks from the 

 awful responsibility of taking a score or more of healthy 

 naturalists to an enchanting spot where there is no means of 

 rewarding their labours by some sort of a meal. 



Many years ago, before our Saturday afternoon trips were 

 inaugurated, the Society organised an annual whole-day 

 meeting at Three Bridges, and I believe some attempt was 

 made a few years back to revive this idea in a visit to the 

 New Forest. These excursions were complicated by con- 

 nection with Bank Holidays, when the difficulty of making 

 suitable arrangements is greatly increased. Would it not be 

 possible, once in a summer, to have a whole day together in 

 some choice locality far afield, unhampered by bank-holiday 

 crowds or beanfeasts ? I think it is worth consideration. 



There is one respect in which I am glad to say our report 

 differs from most of its predecessors — that is in the fact that 

 death has made no inroads upon our membership. We have 

 missed several regular attendants from our meetings, but we 

 are proud to know that their absence is due to their having 

 been called to scientific work in distant fields. In this 

 connection I would mention our friends, Mr. Kemp in Ireland, 

 and Mr. Kirkaldy in far-off Honolulu. Gifted and enthusiastic 

 scientific workers, we parted with them regretfully, but I 

 think we are justified in believing that their future work will 

 add to the prestige of the Society, with which they are still 

 connected, 



