Journal of Proceedings. clxxxiii
was held, at which Messrs. W. Masland and H. A. Sauze were elected
members.
The Secretary read the Report of the Council for 1885, and Mr. E.
Letchford, one of the Auditors, read the Treasurer's Statement of Account
(see Appendices). After some discussion the Report and Statement
were adopted by the meeting.
The Secretary submitted a statement of the receipts and payments on
account of the Tea Fund, showing a balance of 4s. 10d.
The members proposed at the last meeting to fill the vacant seats upon
the Council, were declared duly elected, and on a ballot being taken, the
scrutineers, Mr. F. H, Varley and Mr. Walter Crouch, declared that the
members nominated as officers at the last meeting had been unanimously
elected.
Mr. T.V.Holmes then delivered an Address which was illustrated by
diagrams and maps :—
The Presidential Address, 1886.
Ladies and Gentlemen,—The year which has passed since you did me
the honour to elect me President has been, on the whole, a prosperous
one for the Essex Field Club. But though our members continue to
increase in number, it is much to be regretted that many appear to think
the payment of their subscriptions a mere formality, which may be
delayed indefinitely without injury to the Club. Of course the chief
advantage of numbers, in a society like oura, lies in the possibility
afforded of the publication of full and well illustrated Transactions.
But unless the subscriptions of the great majority of members can be
counted upon, our Transactions must be reduced in quantity and quality,
or we must gradually get further and further behind with their publica-
tion—either alternative being fatal to the maintenance of the high
position which our Club has hitherto held among local scientific
societies. Consequently, among our very first necessities is a special
effort to enable us to bring our Transactions up to date.
On the other hand, it is pleasant to be able to record the publication,
towards the close of last year, of the Essex Earthquake Report of our
esteemed members, Prof. R. Meldola and Mr. W. White. Whether its
sale may be to our pecuniary advantage or not, there can be no doubt
that its issue has added very largely to the scientific reputation of our
Society, and that it admirably illustrates the kind of work that should
be done by County Field Clubs.
One of our most distinguished honorary members, Prof. John
Morris, passed away on the 7th of this month. He was born at
Homerton in 1810, and was for many years in business as a pharma-
ceutical chemist at Kensington. From a very early period he was much
interested in geology, and in 1836 he began to collect materials for a
catalogue of British Fossils. In recognition of this task the Council of
the Geological Society awarded him the balance of the proceeds of the
Woollaston Fund for 1842 and 1843 ; and a similar grant was mule in
1850 and 1852 towards the expense attending the preparation of the
second edition. " This catalogue," says the writer of a memoir of Prof.
Morris in the ' Geol. Mag.,' for November, 1878, " may be placed among
the most important contributions to modern geology." He adds : " Every
group, every genus, every species, was made the subject of exact study ;
and in each department the specialist is surprised to find the advanced