24 HiSTORV OF THE SoCIETY. 



that meeting there was a large attendance, and Dr James 

 Gilchrist [who, it will be remembered, was one of the 

 originators of our Society in 1862] was called to the chair." 

 Fifty-nine gentlemen then present agreed to form themselves 

 into a Society, and it was remitted to a committee chosen from 

 their number " to meet on November loth to draw up a con- 

 stitution and rules, choose a name for the Society, &c., and 

 report to a subsequent meeting." This meeting took place 

 (appropriately enough in the Town Hall, Dumfries) on 

 November 17th, 1876, when fourteen rules were agreed to, 

 one of which was that the Society should be called " The 

 Dumfriesshire and Galloway Scientific, Antiquarian, and 

 Natural History Society. " To our ears the introduction of the 

 term " Scientific " seems somewhat superfluous, and there 

 was a regrettable absence of all cognisance of the existence of 

 the former Society. Another innovation was that the annual 

 subscription of ordinary members should be 2s, or " such 

 other sum as shall be fixed at each annual meeting." " New 

 brooms sweep clean " was ever a true adage, and we must 

 not be hypercritical — all honour to those who at this period 

 reorganised, for they could scarcely claim to have initiated 

 the Society of which we to-day are proud members. Dr 

 James Gilchrist, William Lennon, and Mr J. Rutherford were 

 with R. Service (who was appointed Secretary, and held 

 office till October 13th, 1882), perhaps the principal movers in 

 this meritorious achievement. 



I do not propose to deal with the subsequent Transactions 

 of our Society in the same categorical fashion as I have done 

 with those of earlier years ; suffice it here to say, that in spite 

 of ups and downs our Society has flourished and is flourishing. 



Sessions 1876-1877 and 1877-1878. (No. i.) [Vol. VH.] 



The first regular meeting of the 1876-1877 session was 

 held on December ist in the Dumfries Town Hall, and this 

 place of meeting was utilised until April 5th, 1878. The 

 Transactions for this session and for that of 1877-1878 were 

 published in one volume of eighty-four pages in 1879. There 

 is no list of members, and no abstract of accounts. As was 

 the custom in the earlier Society, the volume was edited by a 



