18 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
fund, has recently resolved upon such measures as will, in course of time,
bring about that result.
Meetings.—Nine Ordinary and Field Meetings have been held, the
proceedings at which quite upheld the reputation acquired by the Club. The
Council regret that the meeting-places have not been more widely spread over
the County, and they would earnestly ask for the co-operation of members
living in Essex to endeavour to extend the range of our meetings during the
coming season. Some dredging excursions off the coast have several times
been suggested, but such meetings are costly, and unless a large body of
members would promise to support them, the Council could hardly venture
to incur the financial risk of hiring a vessel or steamer suitable for the work.
If a general desire were expressed for holding such a meeting during the
summer, the Council would be glad to arrange one.
Early last year, in order to encourage work in the open, the Council
initiated a few Field Demonstration Meetings, and Mr. Paulson, Mr. E. M.
Holmes, and Mr. Marquand very efficiently conducted them. It is intended
to continue the plan, and to extend the subjects of the demonstrations.
In connection with the meetings of the year, the Council have again to
thank Major Lamorock Flower for his kind assistance at the voyage on the
Lea on June 27th, and also the Lea Conservancy for the loan of the steam
barge on that occasion. They have also to thank Mr. E. M. Holmes, Mr.
Marquand, Mr. W. M. Webb, Mr. E. N. Buxton, Prof. Boulger, Dr. Cooke,
Mr. A. Lister, Miss G. Lister and others, for most valuable aid rendered
at various meetings, full details of which are recorded in the reports in
the Essex Naturalist.
Publications.—Two parts of the Essex Naturalist were published in
1896 comprising Nos. 7-22 of Vol. ix., and extending (with Title and Index to
Vol. viii.) to 192 pages. To this must be added the 20 pages of the List of
Members and List of Transactions and Periodicals in the Library, making 212
pages in all. The Council have to thank Mr. T. V. Holmes for a donation of
£3 5s., being half the cost of the Map illustrating the Physical Geography of
Essex, and Mr. II. A. Cole for 10 original drawings illustrating the reports of the
Field Meetings. Many of the papers contributed are of considerable interest
and value, and our Journal still maintains its high character as a local
publication. In order to reduce cost and to render the volumes of the Journal
more uniform in size, it has been determined to make the volumes biennial in
future, and accordingly Vol. ix. includes papers and reports for 1895 and
1896. The last part of Vol. ix., with Title and Index, was published in
January, 1897, thus bringing the Journal absolutely up to date.
The Council begs to call the serious attention of the. members to the
Editor's repeated requests for aid in the way of short notes and papers. It is
felt that with the membership of the Club, including many, actively engaged
in natural history pursuits, more contributions might be looked for ; Essex
affords an admirable field for observation, and it is greatly to be wished that
more members would engage in the task of observing and cataloguing, so as
to enable us to ascertain the extent of the natural riches of the County and at
the same time to improve our Journal.
County Museum.—The position of the Club's County Natural History
Museum, at Chelmsford, has long been a matter of very great anxiety to the