lvi REPORT — 1878. 



Report of the Council for the Year 1877-78, presented to the General 

 Committee at Dublin on Wednesday, August 14, 1878. 



The Council have received Reports during the past year from the 

 General Treasurer, and his account for the year will be laid before the 

 General Committee this day. 



The following Resolution was referred by the General Committee at 

 Plymouth to the Council for consideration, and for action, if it should seem 

 desirable, viz. : — 



" That the question of the appointment of a Committee, consisting of 

 Mr. P. J. Bramwell, Mr. J. F. Bateman, Mr. G. F. Deacon, Mr. 

 Rogers Field, Captain Douglas Galton, Mr. R. B. Grantham, Mr. 

 Baldwin Latham, Mr. C. W. Merrifield, and Mr. G. J. Symons, 

 for carrying on Observations on the'Rainfall of the British Isles, be 

 referred to the Council for consideration, and action, if it seem 

 desirable ; and that the sum of 150L be placed at the disposal of the 

 Council for the purpose." 



The Council having considered the Resolution, and having placed 

 themselves in communication with Mr. Symons, decided that it would not 

 be desirable to appoint the proposed Committee, as, under the system or- 

 ganised by Mr. Symons, the grant which had been made in former years 

 by the Association could be discontinued without detriment to science. 



The General Committee adopted last year certain modifications of the 

 Rules of the Association, which bad for their object the exclusion of un- 

 scientific or other unsuitable papers and discussions from the sectional 

 proceedings of the Association : and the Council have, during the past year, 

 further considered this question. 



The Council are of opinion that the existing Rules of the Association, 

 with the additions hereto subjoined, will afford, if carried out in their in- 

 tegrity, a sufficient guarantee for the exclusion of unscientific and un- 

 suitable papers : — 



1. — That the appointment of Sectional Presidents, Vice-Presidents, 



and Secretaries be made either a year in advance or at such early 



period as the Council may find practicable: 

 2. — That no paper received after the commencement of the Meeting 



shall be read, unless recommended by the Committee of the Section, 



after it has been referred and reported upon. 



At the Meeting of the Association held at Plymouth, invitations were 

 laid before the General Committee, for the year 1879, from Swansea and 

 from Nottingham. 



The invitation from the Mayor and Town Council of Nottingham to 

 meet in that town in 1879 was accepted ; and it was understood that it 

 would be preferable to defer the meeting at Swansea until 1880. 



