542 



REPORT OF 'JHE COUNCIL 



No very noteworthy repairs to the museum building have 

 been required during the year, though it has been necessary 

 to spend the whole of the ;^4o annually set aside for this 

 purpose. One payment appearing in this year's statement, 

 that of ^13 for the painting of the railings, belongs properly 

 to last year's accounts. The other chief items of expenditure 

 imder this head are those for the repair of the inner roof-lights 

 of the three main rooms, and for the overhauling of the electric 

 lighting installation. The latter, as it proved, was taken in 

 hand none too soon. The main cable in the basement was in 

 a dangerous condition through exposure to damp : it is now, 

 after being repaired, led to the switchboard by a safer course. 



Some attention has also been devoted by the Council to 

 the museum grounds, and one outcome, the removal of four 

 large old trees from the west side of the building, has met 

 with a certain amount of criticism in the local papers. 

 The Council did not, however, decide to have these trees 

 taken down without the fullest consideration of all the circum- 

 stances. The trees stood so close to the building and had 

 grown to such a size as seriously to obstruct the lighting of 

 the west corridors ; and there was reason to think they were 

 partly responsible for the fact that it was in this quarter of the 

 museum where most trouble had been experienced with damp. 

 The trees, moreover, were so decayed that there was a risk of 

 their being blown down. 



Particulars of the lectures and " talks " arranged by the 

 Society and given at the museum during the winter will be 

 found in an appendix. It will be noticed that the subjects 

 are varied and interesting. For the lectures given at the 

 ordinary evening meetings the attendance averaged 72; for 

 the children's lectures 140; and for the "museum talks" 71. 

 The best thanks of the Society are due to the lecturers. The 

 field meetings — instituted by the Tyneside Naturalists' Field 

 Club, and carried on by the Natural History Society since the 

 amalgamation — are still being regularly held, and good work 

 has been done at them. They are reported upon in full each 

 year by the chairman of the Field Meeting section. 



