612th ordinary GENERAL MEETING, 



HELD IN COMMITTEE ROOM B, THE CENTRAL HALL, 

 WESTMINSTER, S.W., ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 8th, 1919, 



AT 4.30 P.M. 



Alfred T. Schofield, Esq., M.D., in the Chair. 



The Minutes of the previous meeting were read, confirmed and signed, 

 and the Election was announced of the Rev. John Maurice Turner as 

 an Associate. 



The Hon. Secretary then gave notice that owing to the withdrawal 

 by Bishop Welldon of his paper on " Spiritualism," Mr. Arthur W. Sutton, 

 a member of the Council, had kindly consented to deUver a lecture on 

 " The Ruined Cities of Palestine, East and West of the Jordan," illus- 

 trated by lantern slides from his own photographs, but that at the last 

 moment he found himself under doctor's orders to cancel all engagements. 

 Under the circumstances Dr. Ernest W. G. Masterman, long resident 

 physician in Jerusalem, and Hon. Secretary of the Palestine Exploration 

 Fund, had most kindly consented to take his place. 



The Chairman, after a few introductory remarks, called upon Dr. 

 Masterman to deliver the lecture. This he proceeded to do, covering the 

 same ground as Mr. Sutton intended to do, and utilizing the same slides. 



Dr. Masterman (Hon. Secretary, Palestine Exploration Fund), 

 showed beautifully-coloured slides (of Mr. Sutton's) illustrating the 

 following tour through Palestine, which he fully described in a 

 most interesting lecture, parts of which are incorporated in the 

 following paper. 



The tour commenced at Beyrout, and continued south through 

 Tyre and Sidon. Thence to Safed in Galilee down to the Sea of 

 Tiberias, across the Jordan, south of the lake, up the Yarmuk 

 Gorge to the site of ancient Gadara, thence to Beit er-Ras, the site 

 of Capitolias, and on to Daraa, where once stood Edrei, the capital 

 city of Og, King of Bashan. The great importance of this city 

 and its famous underground passages, where the inhabitants took 

 refuge from the Arabs, were fully described. Thence the journey 

 went south to Jerash, the ancient Gerasa, of which many views 

 were shown. Ammon, the ancient Rabbath-Ammon, later called 

 Philadelphia, was next visited. Then to Madeba, with its mosaic 

 map of the country, and Mount Nebo ; and then to the Jordan, 

 past the Springs of Moses. After crossing the Jordan the route 

 lay through Bethany, skirting the walls of Jerusalem, to Hebron, 

 and on to Beit Jibrin and the ancient Gezer, and so to Jafia. 

 The views of Gezer illustrated the work of the Palestine Explora- 

 tion Fund. The following is the description of the tour. 



