15 



organization of a Society to the extent of preventing that 

 Society from proceeding with an undertaking upon which it 

 had long been .engaged, and which it had nearly completed. 

 That the existence of a Society depends upon the unity and 

 cohesion of its Members is a fact I can readily understand, 

 but that a useful work, which all Members of the Society are 

 interested in, and contribute to, can at any moment be 

 suppressed by the action of one or more Members, is a state 

 of things which I must confess myself unable to comprehend. 



One would naturally conclude that as material, in the shape 

 of local lists, notes, observations, etc., was furnished to the 

 Society for an avowed purpose, such material would still be 

 found among the property of the Society. This, however, I 

 regret to say, is not the case. I am informed that the MS. 

 list of Coleoptera is still at our service, but 1 am afraid that 

 the same cannot be said of the MS. list of Lepidoptera, or yet 

 of the original local lists and notes from which it was 

 compiled. 



I venture to say that the Society is, at the present moment, 

 as well qualified to take in hand the preparation of the 

 insect Fauna of Kent, Surrey, or Sussex, or any particular 

 area or areas of those counties, as it has been at any time 

 since its establishment. 



As a nucleus we have the MS. list of Coleoptera, but lists 

 of all other Orders will have to be compiled de novo. I may 

 add that this matter will probably come under the considera- 

 tion of the Council at an early date. If it is deemed expedient 

 that a Fauna should be compiled, I hope that the proposal 

 will not only meet with your approval, but that every Member 

 will render all the assistance he possibly can towards making 

 the work a credit to the Society. 



Occasional reports of our proceedings have been published 

 in the Entomologist ; and a local paper, The South London 

 Press, has frequently inserted extended notices of our meet- 

 ings. This is very satisfactory as far as it goes ; but fails 

 short of what should be the acme of our ambition. I am 

 sure we should all be pleased to see our proceedings and 

 transactions issued in a separate form, emanating from the 

 Society itself. 



