16 
PROCEEDINGS OP THE PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OP NATURAL SCIENCE. 
the objects of the Society. Hitherto there has, for the reasons 1 
mentioned above, frequently been doubts as to the propriety of , 
acquiring many desirable works; but, now that the obstacles to j 
the increase of the Library have been removed, the Librarian j 
would suggest the desirability of raising a fund to put and keep 
the department on an effective footing. 
In connection with the matter of exchange, the Secre¬ 
tary read the following extract from a letter which he 
had received from Mr Alfred Lockyer, Hon. Librarian of 
the Epping Forest and County of Essex Naturalists’ 
Society, and which he considered very gratifying“ I 
have received from Messrs Blackwood, vol. 5, complete, of 
The Scottish Naturalist, and No. 1 of the new vol,, and am 
much obliged to you for thegenerous construction you have 
placed upon your obligations, under the exchange scheme 
which we proposed. I did not know before that this 
admirable quarterly was the journal of your Society.” 
REPORT OP THE TREASURER. 
The Treasurer (Mr John Macgregor) reported that there 
were at present 178 paying, 4 life, 5 associate, and 16 
corresponding members; and submitted an abstract of ac¬ 
counts, from which it appeared that the receipts for the 
year amounted to £76 8s, and the expenditure to £3818s 5£d, 
leaving a balance in bank at 31st January of £37 9s 6Jd. 
The Balance-sheet will be found on another page. 
REPORT OF THE CURATOR. 
BY COLONEL DRUMMOND HAY. 
In laying- before you the present report, I would first of all beg 
to express the great pleasure I have in being at last able to con¬ 
gratulate the Society on having obtained a proper Museum Hall. 
It has been, as 1 daresay you all well know, the Curator’s lot, 
year after year, to have had to report and lament the utter im¬ 
probability of the Society carrying out in the premises we have 
so long, though temporarily, occupied, the much-cherished 
scheme of the formation of a Museum of the Natural History of 
Perthshire; whereby not only would its own studies be greatly 
expedited, but instructive entertainment provided for the 
community at large. One result of the great advance in 
the study of natural science that has been made during 
the last quarter of a century has been to show that the most 
perfect, as well as the most useful, kind of provincial Natural 
History Museums are those which are devoted entirely to the 
natural productions of the district. In restricting, therefore, 
our museum to the Natural History of Perthshire, we are quite 
in keeping- with the present advanced ideas of museum construc¬ 
tion, rnd at the same time, I trust, moving in the groove which 
may lead to the highest degree of perfection that a Provincial 
Museum can attain. How near and how soon that state of per¬ 
fection may be reached, entirely depends on the individual exer¬ 
tion of each member of the Society; and as its Curator, I would 
strongly urge upon all the necessity of renewed energy in the 
work before us. At the same time, I have much pleasure in 
stating, that in prospect of our being se soon in occupancy of 
the new Museum building great exertions have already been 
made, and the collections which have steadily been going on for 
years past, with the object of a Museum in view, are being re¬ 
arranged. In addition, large donations from various members, 
including almost all the species of plants to be found 
in Perthshire have already been received, and are now being 
arranged and classified. Though the latter already form a large 
herbarium, members (and especially those addicted to botanical 
pursuits) must not think that more specimens will not berequired. 
This is far from being the case, as it is extremely desirable that 
plants of every district of the county—in fact, of almost every 
parish—should be represented by specimens in the herbarium. 
There are also, I may mention, large collections of articulate 
and molluscous animals ready to be handed ever whenever the 
Society is in a position to receive them, and steps are being 
taken to secure representatives of all the other divisions of the 
animal kingdom. And last, and certainly not least, the Presi¬ 
dent has most kindly undertaken to see that the geological col¬ 
lection is made as perfect as possible. Under these circum¬ 
stances, I think the Society may be most sincerely congratulated 
on its favourable position in taking possession of its new 
building. 
REPORT OF THE EDITOR, 
BY DR BUCHANAN WHITE. 
Though no new work has been published by the Society during 
the past year, the Editor has the pleasure of announcing that 
the Council has determined to try the experiment of publishing 
a volume of the “ Proceedings of the Society,” in which will be 
given an account of each meeting, and at least an abstract of the 
papers read. Reports of the excursions will also be included in 
the “ Proceedings.” The volume will he issued in annual parts. 
Though it is now some years since the publication of The 
Scottish Naturalist was handed over to Messrs Blackwood & 
Sons, the conduct of the magazine still remains in the hands of 
the Editor, and several of the papers communicated to the 
Society have appeared in its columns, and received commenda¬ 
tion from other scientific journals,—a fact worthy of notice as 
testifying- to their intrinsic value. As appears from the report of 
his colleague, the librarian, there is an increasing demand from 
other Societies at home aud abroad for The Scottish Naturalist, 
or other publications of the Society, ia exchange. 
That the Flora of Perthshire has not yet gone to press, is not, 
the Editor ventures to think, a matter to be altogether regretted. 
Though in some respects it is desirable that it should have been 
published ere now, yet every season brings forth fresh facts regard¬ 
ing the plants of Perthshire, and what has been lost by the delay 
will be more than compensated for by the information gained. 
It is hoped, however, that now our “Flora ” will soon he in the 
hands of the public. 
Rev. Mr Tait, St Madoes, in moving the adoption of 
the Reports, said it must have been a matter of great grati- 
