Vol 5 - Dumfriesshire & Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian ...

I2 Transactions.crops in the old world. He also exhibited several contortedstones resembling fishes, and said they were due to the samecauses as the specimens exhibited by Mr Johnstone.Secretary'sReport.The Hon. Secretary (Mr J. Wilson) submitted the followingreport :—The Secretary's annual report for the session which liasnow closed may be considered of some importance, as it gives ageneral statement of the present Society's doings for the 10thyear of its existence, and forms a good indicator of its life andutility.At the Annual Meeting last year our membership numbered190, comprising 5 life, 165 ordinary, and 20 honorai-y members.Since then 11 names have been taken off the roll—3 members havingdied, 1 resigned, and 7 removed from this district ; and 34 newmembers' names have been added, which make a net total of 213,being the largest number on record, and now includes 5 life, 187ordinary, and 21 honorary members.In addition to the seven ordinary Winter Meetings and thefive Field Meetings, four special ones have been held, at whichlectures on subjects within the scope of the Society were given.At the ordinary Winter Meetings 15 papers by differentmembers were read and discussed, the majority of which wereconfined to special subjects relating to tlie Society's field ofaction. These papers are of great practical value, and thewriters thereof deserve commendation for thus advancing theaims of this Society by investigating the local antiquities, aswell as recording the Flora and Fauna of tlie district In additionto hearing papers read at these meetings, members had anopportunity of inspecting many rare exhibits, which formed aninteresting feature in the programme. The five Field Meetingsproved both instructive and enjoyable to the members and theirfriends who took part in them. One of these requires specialnotice, for on the 5th June a joint excursion of the ScottishNatural History Club and thisSociety was held at Lochmaben,at which there were more than 50 members present.The average attendances at these meetings wei'e 33 •! for thewinter and 294 for the summer—the former being larger thanlast year's and the latter slightly under, those being 32-1 and 30*1respectively. These figures may be regarded as very small consideringthe number of members in the Society, but owing to so