THE CLUB AND ITS WORK.
7
ing; the Rev. Lewis N. Prance and Mrs. Prance, of Stapleford Taw-
ney Rectory; Lord and Lady Rayleigh, of Terling Place; the late
Mr. Thomas Royle and Mrs. Royle, of Upton ; Mr. and Mrs. Archibald
Ruggles-Brise, of Spains Hall, Finchingfield ; Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan
Seabrooke, of The Elms, Grays Thurrock ; Mr. and Mrs. S. Hazzledene
Warren, of Loughton ; the Earl and Countess of Warwick, of Easton
Lodge. To all these ladies and gentlemen the warm thanks of the
Club are due.
Publications.—One of the most important objects with which the
Club started work was the publication of original scientific papers and
notes dealing with the natural history, etc., of Essex; and none of its
primary objects has been achieved more successfully than this.
The publications of the Club (which have been edited from the
outset by Mr. William Cole) have gained a high position among those
of similar societies. This success has been achieved largely by
adherence to a settled programme.—viz., that the papers printed should
be mainly of a local character, and concerned with the Natural History,
Geology, and Pre-historic Archaeology of Essex. It is also a subject of
some pride with the Editor that full reports of all meetings of the Club
from the foundation meeting onward have appeared in our journals.
Commencing in 1880, the official publications of the Club
consisted of Transactions and a Journal of Proceedings, both issued in
parts at irregular intervals. Of these, five volumes in all were issued.
On the 1st January 1887, the foregoing were replaced by a periodical
entitled the Essex Naturalist, which still forms the official organ of
the Club. The fifteenth volume is now in course of publication. One
great drawback to its usefulness in the past has bten its somewhat
irregular appearance; but every endeavour will be made in the future
to bring out the Essex Naturalist as a quarerly journal, issued on
regular fixed dates.*
From time to time, too, as occasion has offered, " Special Memoirs "
have been published, and three volumes of these have appeared already.
These are (i) A Report on the East Anglian Earthquake of 1884, by
Prof. Meldola and Mr. William White (1885), (ii) The Birds of Essex,
by Mr. Miller Christy (1890), and (iii) The Mammals, Reptiles, and
Fishes of Essex, by Mr. Henry Laver (1898).
The establishment of the Club's Museums rendered necessary the
commencement of a new class of publications—the " Museum Hand-
books," of which four have been published so far.
One or two pamphlets, on various subjects, have also been issued
by the Club for special purposes, the most important being Prof.
Meldola's Coming of Age of the Essex Field Club (1901).
Lastly, the Council has decided upon the annual issue of this Year-
book and Calendar.
Altogether the publications of the Club (not counting the " Museum
Handbooks" and other pamphlets) now extend to twenty-three
volumes, containing about six thousand pages, all profusely illus-
trated.+
Museums.—In the original Rules of the Club, adopted at the
Foundation Meeting on the 10th January, 1880, the " formation of a
Museum " was put down as one of the primary objects to be attained.
The idea was emphasized and enlarged upon in the interesting and
* See the " Prefatory Note " (p. 2).
+ A detailed list of all of them, with prices and other particulars, appears on the back cover of
this volume.