32 JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY, VOL. 10, NO. I, JANUARY, I9OI. 



There have been nine meetings since the last annual meeting at Stafford. As 

 the Treasurer's Report shows, the adverse balance is materially diminished owing 

 to the generosity of many of the members, so that the Society is in a better financial 

 position than it was last year. 



The monthly meetings held at the Manchester Museum have been on the whole 

 well attended, and the number of papers, notes, and exhibits show no sign of 

 decreasing. As usual, no meetings of the Society were held in July and August. 



On October 22nd, 1898, the Council appointed a Committee, consisting of the 

 following gentlemen : — Mr. J. Cosmo Melvill, Rev. G. A. Frank Knight, Dr. 

 Chaster, and the Secretary, to draw up a revised list of British marine mollusca. 

 They have now pleasure in reporting that the list is nearly completed and will 

 probably appear in the January number of the Journal. 



At the suggestion of Mr. A. E. Boycott, the Council have appointed a Com- 

 mittee, consisting of Messrs. J. R. B. Masefield, F. Taylor, and R. J. Welch, with 

 Mr. A. E. Boycott as Secretary and Convener, to consider and, as far as practicable, 

 to carry out collective investigation into the phenomena connected with the varia- 

 tion and life-history of land and freshwater mollusca. 



Four numbers of the Journal have been published during the current year, con- 

 taining 138 pages and one portrait. This completes the ninth volume of the Journal 

 and the second since it was transferred to the Society. To meet the wish expressed 

 by some members, a much fuller index than that in the previous volume has been 

 appended to this one, and it is hoped that the increased utility will justify the 

 extra cost. 



During the past year the Society's Cabinet has been indebted to Mr. J. Bliss and 

 Mr. A. G. Stubbs for donations. In addition to the usual periodicals the Society's 

 Library has been enriched by contributions from members of the Society and others, 

 among whom may be mentioned : — Messrs. G. W. Chaster, W. H. Dall, G. K. 

 Gude, A. S. Kennard, W. Kobelt, J. Cosmo Melvill, R. Standen, A. G. Stubbs, 

 E. R. Sykes, Bryant Walker, W. F. Webb, W. M. Webb, and B. B. Woodward. 



The Curator has given considerable assistance during the past year to members 

 in the way of naming specimens for them, but the Council think it necessary once 

 more to draw attention to the fact that such work forms no part of the Curator's 

 official duties. Members may be assured that every care is taken of specimens sent 

 by them to the Manchester Museum for comparison or identification, but neither 

 the members of the Museum staff nor the officers of the Society can be held 

 responsible in case of accident. The Curator would suggest that, to facilitate this 

 work and diminish the risk of accident, members should in forwarding shells to be 

 named, confine themselves to species belonging to one family only at a -time, and 

 pack each species in a separate box, or at all events in a separate paper. In this 

 form they can usually be dealt with at once, and the delay and risk consequent 

 upon the handling of a large miscellaneous consignment thereby avoided. 



TREASURER'S REPORT. 



The Balance Sheet for the year 1899 will be found printed in the April number 

 of the Journal for this year (vol. 9, p. 314). In bringing forward the interim Balance 

 Sheet for the present year, the Council are pleased to be able to state that the 

 adverse balance shown in last year's report has, owing to the generosity of various 

 members, entirely disappeared, and the Treasurer is enabled at the present moment 

 to show a balance in hand of ^I3 4s. 5d. 



