2 26 REPORT OF THE COUNCIL 



At the Royal Agricultural Society's Show, held this 

 summer in Newcastle, a bay in the educational section was 

 allotted to the Natural History Society, and was fitted up by 

 the museum staff to illustrate some special features of local 

 natural history — birds of the Fame Islands, wildfowl of Holy 

 Island, characteristic shore fauna, etc. The experiment was 

 decidedly successful ; the museum bay, and especially a repro- 

 duction of a rock pool which formed the centre-piece of it, 

 drew a great deal of attention and favourable comment. 

 Another outcome of the Royal Show has been a temporary 

 exhibition at the museum illustrating principles of forestry. 

 The forestry section of the Royal Show this year was so 

 particularly instructive, and most visitors to the show had so 

 little opportunity of studying it, that it was felt to be well 

 worth while to keep some part of it together for a few weeks 

 longer and put it on exhibition at the museum. This it was 

 fortunately possible to arrange for, and the objects have been 

 exhibited there for about two months. Most of them were 

 lent either by the Duke of Northumberland, through his head 

 forester, Mr. A. T. Gillanders, or by the agricultural and 

 botanical departments of Armstrong College, through Mr. 

 J. F. Annand and Prof. M. C. Potter. The usefulness of the 

 exhibition has been materially added to by lectures which 

 have been given upon it to the public and to various groups 

 of visitors by Mr. Annand and Mr. Gillanders. It has also, 

 by special arrangement, been visited by classes from all the 

 Council schools of the town, after Mr. Annand had given a 

 preliminary demonstration upon it to the teachers. 



The only repairs to the building during the year have been 

 of a trivial character. After the heavy expense incurred last 

 year in replacing one of the boilers it is imperatively necessary 

 to economise in this direction, though some additions to the 

 hot water system are much needed. The outside railings 

 have been painted, but the charge for this does not come into 

 the balance sheet of the year under review. 



The Hancock Prize for 1907 was awarded to Miss Florence 

 Hodgson, of South Shields, for an essay on " An Autumn 



