198 



it "vrould be well so to avail ourselves of our resources as to se- 

 cure at least two, if not three, Evening Meetings every winter 

 season. 



A very interesting Part of our Transactions is in process of 

 issue to the members, containing, besides my immediate prede- 

 cessor's able Address,, a capital paper on Eggs, and especially on 

 the mysterious processes involved in their Coloration, by our 

 highly esteemed Vice President, Dr. Emblcton ; several shorter, 

 but very valuable, notices of new, or rare, occurrences in Geo- 

 logy and other branches of Natural Science, including one by 

 our late lamented friend, though I believe not fellow member, 

 Earl Ravensworth ; some veiy interesting letters of Thomas 

 Bewick, hitherto unpublished, for which we are indebted to 

 our friends and fellow members Sir Walter Calverley Trevelyan, 

 Bart., and Mr. John Hancock; an exhaustive paper on the Sea 

 Birds Preservation Act, and the protection of Wild Birds gene- 

 rally, by Mr. Charles Murray Adamson ; and an account of the 

 Discovery and Exploration of the impoi-tant Boman Remains at 

 South Shields during the past two or three years. This last 

 paper, and several of the others, have been largely illustrated by 

 excellent Woodcuts and Plates. In the case of the Roman Sta- 

 tion the Plates are of exceptional importance, for I regret to say 

 that, up to the present time, no steps have been taken to per- 

 manently preserve any portion of the deeply interesting and ex- 

 ceedingly important sites, walls and other erections, uncovered 

 during the exploration ; and, but for the account the Club has 

 published, and the plates with which it has adorned the narrative, 

 the whole would infallibly, in the course of a short time, have 

 perished from amongst us. lioth in the History, and in the 

 Plates, tlie strictest accuracy has been observed, that future auti- 

 ([uaries may be able to rely with the fullest confidence upon 

 everj'thing recorded in the text, or shown in the illustrations. 



Before proceeding to such suggestions and remarks as the suc- 

 cessive occupants of this Chair are allowed, if not expected, to 

 make, I cannot refrain from expressing the great sorrow with 

 wliich I fulfil tlu' mournful duty of recnlling the loss the Club 



