l8o PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



appointed Treasurer. This causing a vacancy in the Council, Mr. Thomas 

 W. Bell, the retiring Secretary, was elected as member of Council in lieu of 

 Mr. Adams. The omission of the Office of Librarian from the ballot-paper 

 was pointed out, whereupon Mr. William Nelson was appointed as Librarian. 



president's address. 



The retiring President, Mr. James Cosmo Melvill, M.A., F.L.S., then 

 delivered his Valedictory Address, taking as his subject ' British Pioneers in 

 Conchological Science during the past two hundred years ' [printed at pp. 

 190 et sequitur]. 



On the conclusion of the Address, the thanks of the Society were voted 

 to the President, and it was resolved that the Address be printed in full in 

 the Journal of Conchology. 



EXHIBITS. 



Mr. J. Ray Hardy exhibited a series of Ttochus pharaonis L., from 

 Lower Egypt. These had been used as ornaments for a mummy of the 

 Twelfth Dynasty, about 2,600 B.C. Besides these were placed a series of 

 recent specimens — Clanculus pumiceiis from the Mediterranean Sea. 



Mr. W. H. Heathcote showed a collection including all the species of 

 the genus Vertigo and Lancashire specimens of Bulimus goodallii, Achatina 

 acicula and Acme lineata. He also showed an apparatus for sorting 

 rejectamenta. 



Mr. John W. Taylor, F.L. S., had on view his album of portraits of 

 Conchologists. 



Mr. Thos. F. Burrows exhibited a collection of varieties of Helix 

 neinoralis, H. hortensis and H. aspersa ; also specimens of H. fusca, Azeca 

 tridens var. nouletiana, and Paludina vivipara, the latter of which he pre- 

 sented to the Society's collection. 



The collection of Irish Land and Freshwater shells recently presented 

 by Mr. J. G. Milne, was also on exhibition. 



Mr. B. Sturges Dodd exhibited a fine collection oi Rossocc and Odostoume. 



The great feature of the evening was however, the inspection by the Mem- 

 bers of the whole of Mr. J. Cosmo Melvill's magnificent collection of shells. 

 His cabinets contain, on a rough estimate, about thirteen to fourteen thousand 

 species, besides many varieties. Particular attention was drawn to the large 

 series of specimens included in the genera Coiius, Cyprcea, Valuta and Pecten. 

 In the first of these, Conus, about four hundred species were shown. Amongst 

 them was the unique Comts dusareli H. Adams, upon which Mr. G. B. 

 Sowerby made a lew remarks, it being the most beautifully marked and 

 coloured member of the genus, and the circumstance of its discovery being 

 singular, viz : in the stomach of a fish caught some miles off the North Coast 

 of Mauritius, at 60 fathoms depth. Besides this, the specimens of C. cervus, 

 C. omaicus, C. gloria-maris , C. racemostis, C. molnccensis, and other rarities, 

 were iiiuch admired. Among terrestrial mollusks the genus Clausilia was 

 shown, arranged in four drawers in several hundred glass-capped boxes, as 

 were also the Achatinellce, of which there were a great variety. 



J.C. , vi., Jan., 1S90, 



