ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. 237 



the museum one is struck with their greatly improved appearance, 

 and also with the cases, and the objects in them, added since 

 the last annual meeting. The whole of this reflects the greatest 

 credit upon the Curator, Mr. H. Crowther, who notwithstanding 

 the teaching of the many classes which has necessarily occupied 

 a great deal of his time, shews that one of the chief interests 

 of the Society has not been neglected, and that much care and 

 many long hours of labour have been devoted to this work. 



It was very gratifying to the Council to find that on a recent 

 visit to the museum, the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, a former 

 valued president, expressed his pleasure at the great improve- 

 ment in all the arrangements. The weather letters have been 

 continued, and contributed to the newspapers, and have aroused 

 the same keen interest as before. It is noticeable that most of 

 the comments in response to those letters are sent on natural 

 phenomena connected with animal life. The letters received on 

 the disappearance of the swallow and martin and the distribution 

 of the clouded yellow butterfly colias edusa — have been numerous 

 and interesting. The usual observations have been sent to the 

 Eegistrar-Greneral, and replies and help given to many corres- 

 pondents. The minimum wet and dry bulb thermometers, used 

 for many years in the weather screen on the roof of the Institution, 

 which were mounted on brass, have been replaced by the highest 

 class instruments made by Negretti and Zambra, with corrections 

 made at Kew Observatory. 



The journal of the Institution was issued in May. It was 

 full of most interesting matter relating to the archaeology, 

 mediaeval history, and mineralogy of the county, and bears 

 favourable comparison with many of the issues of former years. 



The Annual Excursion took place in August, when Dolcoath 

 Mine and Tehidy were the chief places visited. On the mine all 

 the various operations of tin dressing were explained by Captain 

 Josiah Thomas to a large company of ladies and gentlemen, 

 for whom he had also kindly provided a most excellent luncheon. 

 On the party leaving Dolcoath, cheers were given for the worthy 

 manager and Mrs. Thomas for the hospitable manner in which 

 they had entertained their guests. Owing to the heavy showers, 

 the full programme of the day could not be carried out. Tehidy 



