15 



local interest. During the past year a special effort was made to> 

 bring before the public the desirability of establishing a Bourne- 

 mouth Museum of Natural Science maintained from public funds. 

 At a largely attended and very representative meeting held on 

 March 16th, the President (Sir E. Ray Lankester) in the chair, the 

 following resolution was unanimously adopted : — " That this repre- 

 sentative meeting of residents in the County Borough of Bourne- 

 mouth considers it highly desirable that active steps should be- 

 taken to form a Museum of Natural History and Archaeology in- 

 order to bring together, classify and arrange the many valuable 

 specimens in the possession of private individuals and the Natural 

 Science Society, or to be acquired later, and so provide a recognised 

 means of advancing the interests of science and the spread of sound 

 knowledge in the community." In addition a representative 

 Committee of leading residents was appointed to consider the best 

 means for carrying out the objects embodied in the resolution, with 

 power to add to their number. Lately a Deputation waited on the 

 Borough Council and Sir Daniel Morris presented an address, a 

 copy of which appears in the Proceedings. So far the Borough 

 Council has not seen its way to appoint a Museum Committee to 

 carry out the provisions of the Museum Act adopted so long ago 

 as 1906, but it is sincerely hoped that the matter will not be 

 longer delayed, as it is prejudicial to the interests of the Borough 

 and to the progress of intellectual development and research. 



The accommodation at the Society's Rooms for Sectional 

 Lectures having proved inadequate owing to the increase of 

 membership, arrangements have been made to hold all lectures of 

 general interest in Trinity Hall. 



Sir Daniel Morris, K.C.M.G., kindly accepted the appointment 

 as Delegate to the British Association held last September in 

 Dundee, for which the Council tender their hearty thanks. 



The Council is pleased to report that an arrangement has been 

 entered into to exchange Proceedings with the Belfast Naturalists' 

 Field Club. This Society has very generously presented 29* 

 volumes of their Proceedings to the Bournemouth Society, con- 

 stituting a valuable addition to our Library. 



During the year the lease of the Society's Rooms has been 

 renewed until March 25th, 191 3. The thanks of the Society are 

 due to Mr. Parkinson Curtis, F.E.S., in connection therewith. 



The Council desires to convey the best thanks of the Society 

 to the numerous donors of botanical, geological and other speci- 

 mens, and to the donors of books. The latter are specially referred 

 to in the Librarian's Report. 



Among the more valuable gifts are the following : — Mr. R. V. 

 Sherring, F.L.S., presented a valuable collection of fossils and 

 about 200 sheets of dried and named plants. Mr. H. E. Swain 



