56 YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS' UNION. 



The Mycological Committee propose that the Fungus Foray 

 shall be held at Mulgrave Woods at a date to be fixed to suit 

 the circumstances of the case, in September, and your Executive 

 have pleasure in recommending- that the request be complied 

 with. 



For the Annual Meeting of next year (1900), the closing 

 year of the century, an invitation to meet at Middlesbrough will 

 be presented by the Cleveland Field Club, and your Executive 

 cordially recommend its acceptance. 



The Societies which constitute the Union are now 37 in 

 number, same as last year. 



The Statistics, which the Secretaries of the different Societies 

 have again been kind enough to furnish, show a slight decrease 

 in the number of associates, the aggregate membership of the 

 37 Societies now amounting to 2,418, a decrease of 28. 

 Adding to this the number of direct members, the total 

 numerical strength of the Union is 2,850. 



The Membership of the Union now stands at 432, being 25 

 Life Members, 7 Honorary Life Members, and 400 Ordinary 

 Members, a decrease of 8 members as compared with last year. 



During the year only about half-a-dozen new members have 

 been elected, much below the usual number, while on the other 

 hand several members have died, a few resigned, and a few 

 have been struck off the Rolls for non-payment of arrears of 

 Subscriptions. 



The Death-roll has been unusually heav}', including the 

 names of an Ex-President (Mr. John Cordeaux) and of an active 

 member of the Executive (Mr. H. T. Soppitt), as well as of 

 Mr. E. Birks, Mr. H. B. Hewetson, and Mr. Geo. Jackson — ail 

 of them of distinguished attainments in their various branches 

 of study, while in the Earl of WharncliflFe and others the Union 

 loses public-spirited supporters. 



The Financial Position of the Union continues a source 

 of anxiety, and your Executive regret that their anticipations, 

 as named under this heading in last year's report, have not 

 been nearly realised. To some extent this can be satisfactorily- 

 accounted for, but there is still an unsatisfactory residuum, 

 which they venture to hope that some determined effort will be 

 made to remove. There is much valuable work waiting to 

 be published, which cannot be accomplished without a very 

 considerable addition to the funds and a large addition to the 

 membership. 



