17 



friends, and to the various Societies who contributed so largely 

 to the success of the Exhibition by the loan of valuable 

 objects, and in sundry other ways, our best thanks are due. 

 And the readiness with which the general body of our members 

 came forward to support the Committee in the arduous task 

 that they had undertaken — many of them placing large por- 

 tions of their valuable collections at their disposal, is de- 

 serving of all praise, and is but another proof of their 

 earnestness in the Society's work. Of course such an Exhi- 

 bition could not be carried through without considerable 

 expenditure ; and although sundry members most generously 

 took upon themselves the task of defraying the cost of various 

 desirable accessories which tended much towards a successful 

 issue, it required a substantial vote from the Society's funds 

 to cover the actual necessities of the case. The question has 

 been raised wnether it is desirable that the Society should be 

 put to so large an expenditure with this object. I have very 

 carefully watched this point for some time past, and am fully 

 convinced that the Exhibitions of the last few years, although 

 admittedly a considerable tax upon the finances for the time 

 being, have been, in the result, a decided source of strength 

 to the Society ; there is little doubt that many whom we 

 now number among our members have at our Annual Exhi- 

 bitions realised, for the first time, the advantages of united 

 action such as is offered by the Society ; and, further, many 

 friends who have never previously bestowed much thought 

 upon Natural History subjects, when once there, evince a 

 lively interest in the exhibits, and some of them may be led 

 to take up some branch as a study, and even become useful 

 workers in the cause of Natural Science. This alone should 

 be a strong incentive to us to continue our exertions in this 

 direction ; and I trust that the day may be far distant when 

 it is found necessary to abolish, or even curtail, this portion 

 of our annual programme. 



Since our last Annual Meeting the British Insect Fauna 

 has received many additions, of which I propose to give some 

 particulars, and, where possible, also references to the pub 



c 



