FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 3IST, 1889. 43
that all members who can do so will attend, and aid the conductors and officers
in their efforts to promote pleasant and useful gatherings, which cannot fail to be
of benefit to the Club. The first of the series will be held at Chelmsford, under
the conductorship of our member, Mr. Edmund Durrant.
The publication of the Essex Naturalist has not been so regular during the
past year as could be wished, and on several occasions the monthly issue has be-
come a bi-monthly one. The Hon. Secretary and Editor, Mr. W. Cole, has
done his best under the circumstances, but the work of the Club in corre-
spondence, arranging meetings, reporting, editing, &c., has now become so
onerous that he has been compelled to ask that the journal be made in future a
quarterly one, at least for a time. Both the Council and the Editor have, very
reluctantly, come to the conclusion that this is the only workable plan under
present conditions. The quarterly publication, although inconvenient in some
respects, will diminish the labour and cost of production, and will allow of the
matter being more varied. The want of co-operation among the main body of the
members in the work of gathering in the materials for the journal is still felt as
a drawback to its usefulness ; several members have largely aided, and to them
the thanks of the Editor are due. A statement of the kind of help required,
pointing out how most members could join in the work with advantage, will
shortly be issued. The Council has to express thanks to Mr. Fitch for the plate
of the Wanstead Heronry, and for the electrotype of an engraving from "English
Illustrated Magazine," and to Mr. Worthington Smith, Mr. Walter Crouch, Mr.
Harting, Mr. Symons, Mr. H. B. Woodward and the Geologists' Association,
for the gift or loan of blocks used in illustrating papers ; also to Mr. H. A. Cole
for several original drawings for "process blocks."
Our member, Mr. Miller Christy, has for several years been collecting materials
for an exhaustive faunistic work on the birds of Essex, and in order that the book
may appear under the auspices of the Club, the Council has entered into a
special agreement with Mr. Christy, under which, in consideration of the sum of
£25, the work will appear as one of the "Special Memoirs" of the Club. Under
the terms of the agreement copies of the book may be subscribed for by members
of the Club at a very reduced rate. A full prospectus will shortly be issued
simultaneously by Mr. Christy to the general public and by the Secretary to the
members of the Club.
The Library, under the fostering care of Mr. Wire, has been enriched by many
valuable works, acquired by presentation, exchange, or purchase. Lists of these
have been read at the Ordinary Meetings. A printed catalogue has now become
a pressing need. A notice pointing out how members could aid in increasing the
Library was issued some months ago, but no general response has been made to
it. Possibly when the Catalogue is printed help may be more freely given to this
important object of the Club—the establishment of a complete Essex Library.
The only additions to the Museum were some miscellaneous collections of mosses,
galls, fungi, &c., bequeathed to us for examination and preservation, where de-
sirable, by the late Mr. English.
No special exploration has been undertaken by the Club during the year, but
in September last the President and Secretary, by the kind permission and aid of
Mr. J. Rogers, and much assisted by Mr. H. C. Snell and Messrs. B. G. and H.
A. Cole, carried on a two days' examination of a Red Hill near Burnham. The
results were not of a very decisive character, but they will be published in the
Essex Naturalist at an early date.