— 8 — 
Advisory Board of the Society decided it would be best to abandon the pro- 
posed meeting. An effort was made, however, to have the Society represented 
by an exhibit of the usefulness of sphagnum in surgical dressings, of which Mr. 
Plitt very kindly took charge. 
The membership of the Society now totals 142, a total increase of eight over 
last year. Two members have died, Mr. S. L. Schumo, of Philadelphia, and 
Dr. G. G. Kennedy, of Readville, Mass., and two others have not been heard 
from during the past year. As, under the regulations of the Post Office De- 
partment, the Bryologist cannot be sent to members more than two issues in 
arrears unless a definite promise of payment is received, the Secretary has been 
reluctantly compelled to suspend the magazine to those members who have not 
paid. To balance these losses, twelve new members have joined the Society. 
A complete list of new members and of changes in address since August, 1918, 
is given in this issue of the Bryologist. 
The offerings of specimens, through the columns of the magazine, show an 
increase over the total of last year, and in comparing the results it is to be re- 
membered that only four issues for 1918 have appeared. Twenty-four different 
species have been offered, all but one of which have been mosses. The force 
of last year’s comment, that in war times hobbies suffer, has been shown true, 
but the Secretary sincerely hopes that during the coming year a great increase 
in the amount of material offered may show that the neglected hobbies are again 
being exercised. The most depressing feature, however, is not the small number 
of species offered, but the few requests for them that are received. During the 
past year the Secretary has offered eight species, all somewhat uncommon, and 
some rare: not more than a dozen different members have availed themselves 
of the opportunity of securing specimens. From reports received from others 
who have offered material, the Secretary concludes that his experience is not 
unique. It seems too bad that there is so little interest in this matter. 
The financial statement appended below shows that the Society is still 
solvent. By cutting down the size of editions, costs have been kept well within 
previous figures, and it has been possible to repay advances made by Dr. Frye 
for plates, and by Mrs. Hasse on the charges for the shipments of Dr. Hasse’s 
duplicates. From the balance on hand as shown by the report about seventy 
dollars should be deducted to cover the probable costs of the September and 
November issues of the Bryologist, thus leaving a balance of about sixty dollars ' 
to be carried on for next year. 
In the matter of cutting down the size of the editions, however, the Secre- 
tary confesses that he rather overdid things, and that as a result the Society 
is short of copies of the numbers from September, 1917, to July, 1918, especially 
of the March, 1918, issue. Will members who may have any spare copies of 
these issues please communicate with the Secretary, in order that it may be 
possible to supply sets to those who in the future wish to purchase, and to make 
good the demand for lost copies that will in all probability come from foreign 
members. 
