THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
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out in full, E.N., iv., pp. 236-241.] The Council commends it with confidence to
the members, feeling assured that the establishment of such an institution would
not only be of the greatest service to the Club and its members, but would also
be the means of stimulating a love for science and the practical study of Nature
throughout the county. When the scheme is finally accepted by the members, a
committee will be appointed to make an appeal for the necessary funds, not only
to the members, but also the public generally, by means of meetings, circular
letters, etc. The Club will have an excellent cause to promote, and the Council
has high hopes that the appeal will prove successful.
In connection with the proposed Museum, allusion should be made to the
important subject of Technical Education, which has received so great an impetus
from the passing of the Local Taxation Act, 1890, under which Act very con-
siderable sums are placed in the hands of the County Councils for the promotion
of the teaching of technical subjects and the elements of science. The County
Council of Essex will have a sum estimated at £17,000 for these objects. In
response to a public notice issued by the County Council, the Secretary, on
behalf of the Council of the Club, made an application for a grant under the Act
for the purpose of giving practical instruction in science and technical subjects.
This application has been supplemented by the publication of a detailed scheme
for Technical Instruction in the county, copies of which will be laid upon the
table at the Annual Meeting, and which will be printed in full in the Essex
Naturalist. [See E.N., iv., pp. 259-262.] The scheme is now under con-
sideration by the County Council. Should the Club's application for a grant be
acceded to, the question of the establishment of a Museum and Laboratory will
receive additional importance, the practical carrying out of the Educational
scheme being closely connected therewith.
The Ordinary and Field Meetings of the Club have certainly not lost interest
during the past year. They have all been well attended, and it is with great
satisfaction that the Council is enabled to reiterate this statement. We are now
entering upon the twelfth year of the Club's existence, and it is a legitimate
subject of congratulation, that, with no change of methods, and with a close
adhesion to matters of local interest, the supply of papers and addresses shows
no signs of diminution, and the Field Meetings continue to be carried on most
successfully. During the year fourteen Ordinary and Field Meetings have been
held. At these meetings the following papers have been read, or have been com-
municated direct to the Editor for publication in the Essex Naturalist, those
marked with an asterisk having already been printed :—
* "Bird Migrations : Being the Presidential Address delivered at the
10th Annual Meeting." E. A. Fitch, F.L.S.
* "Suggestions on the Collecting and Study of the Minute Fungi of
Essex." Dr. M. C. Cooke.
* "The Threatened Destruction of the Essex Oyster Culture." William
Rome, F.S.A.
*"Suggestions for the Formation of a County Herbarium." [. C.
Shenstone, F.R.M.S.
"An Historical Sketch of Waltham Abbey and its Foundation, with a
Description of its Architecture" (Address). G. H. Birch, F.S.A.
"On some Abnormal Forms of Vegetation." Part II. (lecture.) Charles
Browne, M.A., F.S.A.
* "Notes of Geological Rambles in the Braintree District in connection
with the Easter Excursion of the Club." W. H. Dalton, F.G.S.
* "Chelmsford Water Supply." T. V. Holmes, F.G.S.
* "Remarks on Collecting Diptera." G. H. Verrall, F.E.S.