o 
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
items consist of a series of theses and dissertations from foreign uni- 
versities, which are deposited in the safe, and a collection of astronomical 
and geological maps. Few library curators, whose duties are merely 
honorary, are in a position to undertake such work for a national scientific 
institution. Dr Sutherland Black has richly earned the gratitude of the 
Fellows, and especially of those who consult the library, for rendering such 
unique service to the Society. 
The financial position of the Society is suffering, as might be expected, 
from the abnormal conditions resulting from the war. From the state- 
ment recently presented by the Treasurer, it will be seen that we begin 
this session with a considerable deficit, arising partly from increased 
charges for printing, paper, and binding, and partly from losses by fire in 
Neill & Co.’s premises. In anticipation of this deficit, the Council passed 
a series of resolutions with the view of keeping an effective check on 
expenditure, and especially on the papers presented for publication. 
Under the new laws the Council is vested with ample powers to accept 
or reject authors’ manuscripts. Two of these resolutions that bear directly 
on papers presented for publication ought to be borne in mind by con- 
tributors. The first is, that authors eligible for Carnegie Trust grants 
be asked to apply in future for grants from the Carnegie Trust to cover 
the cost of illustrations. The second is, that, after an allowance of ten 
per cent, of the printers’ charges for the setting and printing of each 
paper, all proof corrections in future be paid by the author. The other 
measures which the Council have adopted need not be individually 
referred to on this occasion. 
Regarding the first of these resolutions, I may take this opportunity 
of expressing our obligations to the Carnegie Trustees for the assistance 
which they constantly render to meet the cost of illustrations. Without 
this aid important papers on the natural science side could not be published 
by the Society. One instance of the value of this endowment of research 
will suffice. Last session a memoir by Dr Kidston and Professor Lang 
on the “ Old Red Sandstone Plants showing structures from the Rhynie 
Chert Bed, Aberdeenshire,” appeared in the Transactions. From the light 
which it throws on the oldest known land flora and the geographical 
conditions that prevailed during Old Red Sandstone time, it will rank, in 
my opinion, among the great papers that have secured the high reputation 
of the publications of this Society. The ten beautiful plates illustrating 
the structure of the plant remains in perfect preservation form an essential 
feature of this memoir. The Carnegie Trustees have defrayed the cost 
of these plates, and they have lately passed a grant of over one hundred 
