NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 



OF 



NORTHUMBERLAND, DURHAM, AND NEWCASTLE- 

 UPON-TYNE 



REPORT OF THE COUNCIL 



FOR I909-1910 



The past year of the Society presents certain satisfactory 

 features, and others which are somewhat disquieting. Much 

 of the Society's work, especially in connexion with the main- 

 tenance of the Museum, has been greatly helped by the 

 Crawhall bequest. Without this timely aid, indeed, the 

 position at the present moment would be serious, and it is 

 this fact — that it is difficult to see how some such exceptional 

 source of income could have been dispensed with — which makes 

 it clear that in some respects the Society is not so flourishing as 

 the Council would wish to see it. In the very essential matter 

 of the membership there is a further decline to record. Ten 

 members have been lost by death and twenty-one by resigna- 

 tion, and as only thirteen new members have been elected, 

 there is a nett loss of eighteen. The membership has now 

 once more fallen below 400 : the actual figure at the end of 

 the year is 395. 



The bequest of ,£6,000, received under the will of the late 

 Mr. Geo. E. Crawhall, has been invested in satisfactory trust 

 securities, and will yield an annual income of about ^200. 

 Particulars of the investments will be found in the Treasurer's 

 report. A further sum of ^1,000, on account of the share of 

 residuary estate bequeathed unconditionally to the Society, 

 has also been paid to the Treasurer during the year, and a 

 small further sum may yet be received from this source. 

 After careful consideration, it was decided that the share 



