NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 



OF 



NORTHUMBERLAND, DURHAM, AND NEWCASTLE- 

 UPON-TYNE 



REPORT OF THE COUNCIL 



FOR 1918-19. 



In the history of the world there has been no such terrible 

 war, or one involving such grave issues and entailing such 

 great suffering and sacrifice of life, as that which began on 

 August 4th, 1 9 14. The forces, human and mechanical, which 

 have been drawn upon were so rnanifold as to arrest normal 

 activities throughout the British Empire. It was therefore 

 with deep" feelings of relief that the news of an armistice was 

 received in November of last year. More than six months 

 elapsed before the full conditions of peace were settled ; this 

 has necessarily been a period of anxiety and uncertainty re- 

 tarding the general resumption of normal conditions of work. 



Armstrong College, used as an hospital during the war, is 

 being released by the military authorities, and it is expected 

 that the staff and students of those sections who have been 

 working at the Hancock Museum since 19 14 will return to the 

 College during the October term. The arrangement under 

 which the work has been carried on has been in every respect 

 a happy one, and the Museum staff will miss their guests no 

 less for their pleasant association than for their co-operation 

 and ready help in work of kindred nature. 



The Council were pleased to welcome the release and return 

 from active service abroad of the Curator, Mr. E. Leonard 

 Gill, in the early part of 1919. While the general work at the 

 Hancock Museum has been carried on so well in his absence 



