325
ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR 1920—21, PRESENTED TO
THE ANNUAL MEETING ON APRIL 2nd, 1921.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Throughout the past year steady progress has been made in the various
activities of the Club, and the interest of Members has been well main-
tained. The membership of the Club now stands at 320, comprising 18
honorary, and 302 ordinary Members.
The attendance at the Stratford Meetings has been exceptionally good,
ranging from 42 to 80 on each occasion, the average attendance being
59.
Seven day field meetings or visits to Museums have been held, with
an average attendance of 48. We have to thank our members, Mr. and
Mrs. A. E. Briscoe, for kind hospitality shown on the occasion of the excur-
sion to Danbury and Little Baddow. In addition, two five-day meetings
at Cambridge and at Colchester respectively, have been held since our
last annual meeting.
Considerable accessions have been made to the collections in the Club's
Stratford Museum, both by purchase and by gifts from friends. Within
the last few weeks a collection of some 270 lichens has been donated to
the Museum by the Trustees of the British Museum, and these specimens,
together with others recently acquired, have all been remounted on her-
barium sheets and arranged, and are now available for the use of students
of the Class.
During the past year series-collections of insects (Lepidoptera, Hymen-
optera, Orthoptera, Neuroptera and Diptera) have been arranged for the
use of students. Two of our Members are engaged in forming a collection
of Essex Coleoptera for the Museum, and have made considerable headway
in this work.
The exhibits of living wild flowers have been maintained without a
break throughout the year, and are much appreciated by visitors to the
Museum.
A small marine aquarium has been kept going through the year, thanks
to the energy and care of one of our Members, Mr. F.J. Lambert, to whom
the Council desires to record its thanks.
The Club's Library has grown steadily during the year, over 300 volumes
having been added during that time, and now comprises some 4,350 bound
volumes, in addition to unbound parts and pamphlets. Additional
shelving has been necessitated to accommodate the influx of books.
Considerable progress has been made in mounting the views forming
the Pictorial Survey of the County, and selections from these views are on
constant exhibition in the Museum and form an attraction to visitors.
Miss Greaves is to be congratulated on her success in displaying these.
The Council has to announce with regret that Mr. H. Whitehead, the
curator's assistant, has resigned on taking up a new appointment at Leeds,
and wishes to record its appreciation of Mr. Whitehead's able and pains-
taking work during the twenty years of his connection with the Museum.