part 1] ANNUAL REPOET. xix 



serve as well as the more costl)" Quarterl}^ Journal, and, if the 

 Abstracts of Proceedings were issued free, most of the objections to 

 making a charge for the Journal would be met. The additional 

 cost of distributing the Abstracts of Proceedings to all Fellows 

 would be about £20 per annum at present rates and costs ; the 

 saving on every eojoy of the Journal not printed and distributed is 

 from 26-. to 2s. 6d. according to the size of the number. Taking 

 this as a basis, if a charge of 10 shillings a year Avere made, it 

 would produce an income in cash or equivalent savings of round 

 about £G00 a year, whatever might be the number of Fellows 

 taking or not taking the Journal, and this sum, though not quite 

 as much as would be desirable, would enable the publication of 

 at least three-quarters of the papers presented to the Society, 

 and regarded as worthy of publication, apart from questions of 

 cost. 



In man V Avays, this course seems to have arguments in its favour. 

 It would need no alteration in the constitution or Bye Laws, such 

 as an increase of subscription would involve, for the privileges of 

 Fellows do not extend to the free receipt of publications, but only 

 to purchase at a reduced cost. The charge proposed would not be 

 likely to prevent any Fellow who wished to possess, and had use 

 for, the whole issue of the Journal from being able to obtain it, 

 while it would prevent some hundreds of copies of an expensive 

 production from becoming waste paper, and restrict the issue to the 

 number really required ; at the same time, those Fellows who only 

 needed those numbers containing papers in which the}^ are specially 

 interested would be kept informed of the publications through the 

 medium of the Abstracts of Proceedings, and could obtain the 

 particular numbers which they wished for at a special reduced rate. 

 A further and very important point in favour of this method of 

 procuring an increased income is its elasticity ; a change in the 

 general rate of contribution involves the summoning of a Special 

 General Meeting and an alteration of the Bj^e Laws, a change in 

 the charge for publications is within the powers and functions of 

 the Council, so that with the noi-mal growth of income of the 

 Society, which may be expected, it will be possible to reduce 

 gradually the charge until the desirable condition of a free issue of 

 all publications is resumed. 



As it is essential to the carrying out of this scheme that the 

 number of copies of the Journal required for distribution should be 

 known beforehand, the charge should be leviable strictly in advance, 

 and Fellows advised to remit it together with their subscriptions; 

 and, as a demand for occasional copies introduces an element of 

 uncertainty in the number of copies required, a charge of say 3s. 

 should be made if applied for within a year of publication, after 

 which the regular rate of 5s. a copy would become payable. 



(5) The Quarterl}^ Journal having been dealt with, it is necessary 

 to consider the List of Geological Literature. The last number 

 published is that for the 3'ear 1912. The number for 1913 is in 



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