64 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
EEi'OItT OF THE COUNCIL. 
The Council, in presenting the Fifteenth annual Report, 
has much pleasure in congratulating the members on the in¬ 
creasing prosperity of the Society. 
During the past session five ordinary meetings were held, the 
average attendance at which was 26, being an increase of 9 over 
the average of previous session. As the Society is now in pos¬ 
session of a large and commodious meeting-room, it is hoped 
that the average will be yet higher. The largest attendance was 
42. At these meetings 9 papers were read, the number of 
authors being 8, 
During the past year, 76 new ordinary members, and 1 
corresponding and 1 honorary member, have been added to the 
roll, being about 70 more than the previous year. 
Four long excursions,—namely, to Abernethy, Lochearnhead, 
Farragon, and Pitroddie,—and several short excursions, were 
made during the summer, and resulted in an increased know¬ 
ledge of the natural history of the county. 
The past session has been in several respects a momentous one 
in the history of the Society. The most important event of the 
year was the entry of the Society into possession of the com¬ 
modious building erected for it by the Committee of the Mon- 
creiffe Memorial Museum Fund, which building was formally 
handed over to the Society in October last. Another important 
event was the Bazaar held in December in aid of the funds of the 
Society, and which, while resulting in drawing nearly £1600, 
testified the warm interest taken by all classes of the community 
in the objects of the Society. The Council desires to take this 
opportunity of placing on record the gratitude of the Society to 
the stallholders, and all others who contributed to the great 
success of the Bazaar. 
Another event to which your Council wishes to allude is the 
success that has attended the Gilchrist Course of Scientific Lec¬ 
tures, a gratifying feature of which has been the co-operation, in 
conducting them, of the Perth Literary and Antiquarian Society. 
Schemes for the utilization, for the purposes of the Society, of 
the new premises have been frequently and seriously considered 
by your Council, and arrangements have now been completed for 
throwing open the rooms to members at stated hours on almost 
every week-day. These hours are as follows :—Monday, 10 A.H. 
to 3 P.M.; Tuesday, 7 P.M. to 10 P.M.; Thursday, 7P.M. to 10 p.m.; 
Friday, 10 A.M. to 3 P.M.; Saturday. 3 P.M. to 7 P.M. The fore¬ 
going are the stated hours of meetings, but the buildings will 
be open every day from 10 A.M. to 8 P.M. 
REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN. 
BY MR GEORGE YOUNG. 
As since the Society came into possession of its new premises 
scarcely enough time has elapsed to permit of the new Library 
arrangements being entirely completed, the Librarian has merely 
to report that steps are being taken to put the library in a 
thoroughly effective working condition. As alluded to in former 
reports, the want of accommodation in the Society’s temporary 
premises was very prejudicial to the Library, and many volumes 
have gone astray, and it is to be feared will not now be re¬ 
covered. Should any member have books belonging to the 
Society in his possession, he is requested to return them without 
delay, in order that the new arrangements may be carried out, 
A list of the missing books will he found on the notice-board in 
the Library. As the Society has now ample accommodation, a 
considerable number of books on all branches of natural history 
are in course of being procured, and it is purposed that the 
Library shall in future contain two departments—one for works 
of reference, the other for books which may he lent out. So 
soon as the new arrangements are completed, intimation of them 
wiU be put up on the notice-hoard. 
REPORT OF THE TREASURER. 
The Treasurer (Mr John Macgregor) submitted a state¬ 
ment of the accounts for the past year, from which it ap¬ 
peared that the amount of income was £82 16s 3d, and ex¬ 
penditure £55 2s 6d, leaving a balance on hand of £27 13s 
9d. The Treasurer also reported that there were in all 
288 members on the roll, 5 being associate and 17 corres¬ 
ponding members. 76 new members had joined the 
Society during the year. 
REPORT OF THE CURATOR. 
By Colonel Drummond Hay, C.M.Z.S. 
In my report last year, I was enabled to express the pleasure 
of the Society’s possession, for the first time, of a proper 
museum building, not, however, then quite completed. We were 
rather in the dark at the time as to how funds wonld be forth¬ 
coming for thoroughly furnishing the same with suitable cases, 
drawers, and other dust-proof contrivances for the specimens; 
all this requiring no small outlay of capital. Since then the 
Society has made a trip to Switzerland, i.c., not in the real, cer¬ 
tainly in the ideal, and come back, as I have no doubt you will 
have been informed, with sufficient funds to enable the Committee 
to go on with the work. The latter, losing no time, proceeded at 
once to make itself acquainted with the most approved principles 
as to fittings and furnishings adopted in other museums,, and 
for that purpose made an inspection of the weU-appointed 
museum in the Albert Institute at Dundee, and thereafter fixed 
on certain plans, with improvements of its own, which are uow 
in process of being carried out; and I have much satisfaction in 
informing you, that the cases, which are of superior make, are in 
a very advanced state, and will soon be completed. 
The Museum will consist of as complete a collection as possible, 
so as to represent the entire natural history of Perthshire, com¬ 
prising the whole of the zoology, botany, and geology of the 
county, and the basin of the Tay, which will occupy the greater 
part. Four table cases will contain selections from the chief 
groups in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, as an 
index or type collection to illustrate natural history in general. 
A meeting of the Working Committee has been held weekly, 
and steps have been taken by it to solicit the assistance of pro¬ 
prietors and others throughout the county, for the purpose of 
procuring specimens. 
A taxidermist has been appointed, and, thanks to numerous 
promises of help in all directions, it is to he hoped that a large 
