Petty Cash on hand,

Payments made in advance for Capt. Amundsen's Lecture,

ABSTRACT OF THE ACCOUNTS OF THE ROYAL SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY

PAYMENTS.

£51 4 4

Less-Rents received for hire of Rooms,

One half of cost of September-October issue,

UPKEEP OF ROOMS

48 0 0

45 12 8

215 18 10

DONATION-Anonymous, in Memory of Dr. J. G. Bartholomew,

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Ordinary Members,

1 16
£65 0 0

10 9 6

(2) Special; Receipts for Tickets

59 17 0

£1561 7 0

Less-Paid in Advance, for 1926-27, Do. for 1927-28,

MISCELLANEOUS,

SALARIES,

DONATIONS (Permanent Committee on Geographical Names, £5;

International Congress of Geography, £10, 10s.),

£2012 19 04

Edinburgh, 30th October 1926.—I have examined the Accounts of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society for the year ended 30th September 1926, of which the above is an Abstract, and compared them with the Vouchers and Instructions thereof, and I find the whole to be correctly stated and sufficiently vouched and instructed.

P. C. ROBERTSON, M.A., C.A., Auditor.

LIVINGSTONE MEDAL FUND.

£222, 19s. 8d.

Do.

FUNDS AT 30TH SEPTEMBER 1925:

£572, 12s. 5d.-5% War Stock, 1929-47, cost

Deposit Receipt Commercial Bank of Scotland, Limited,

FUNDS AT 30TH SEPTEMBER 1926:

£543 19 10
227 7 7
55 7 9
£826 15 2

£795, 12s. 1d.-5% War Stock, 1929-47, cost
Deposit Receipts Commercial Bank of Scotland, Limited,
Due by Treasurer,
Cost of Medal,

Edinburgh, 30th October 1926.-Examined and found correct.-P. C. ROBERTSON, M.A., C.A. Auditor.

ROYAL SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.

REPORT OF COUNCIL.

FORTY-SECOND SESSION, 1925-1926.

(1st October 1925 to 30th September 1926.)

The Council have the honour to submit the following Report :

ORDINARY MEMBERSHIP.

The changes which occurred during the Session in the number of members were as follows:

Number of Ordinary Members remaining on the Roll on 30th

Of this number, 803 are on the Edinburgh list, 481 on the Glasgow list, 87 and 115 on the Dundee and Aberdeen lists respectively. In addition to those on the lists named, 40 members reside abroad, and 69 reside in England. These numbers include Life Members-in all, 159.

In addition there are five Honorary Members, four Honorary Fellows, and ten Corresponding Members, while the names of ninety-nine Members who have been granted the Diploma of Fellowship are included in the above number of Ordinary Members.

NEW FELLOWS.

The Diploma of Fellowship was granted during the Session to the following Ordinary Members of the Society:

Rt. Hon. Lord Cassillis, J.P., D.L., in recognition of his extensive travels and his communication to various publications on Scottish History and Topography.

George A. Howell, Edinburgh, on the ground of his long connection with the Ordnance Survey, during which time he was engaged in producing original maps of the British Isles on all scales.

David C. T. Mekie, M.A., Ph.D., for his work in geographical research.

SOCIETY'S MEDALS.

The Society's Silver Medal was awarded to Catherine P. Snodgrass, M.A., and T. R. Spiller, first in the merit list in 1926 in the ordinary class in Geography in Edinburgh and Aberdeen Universities respectively. The award at Glasgow University has been made to James M'Clement for an essay on Agriculture in Kintyre; this essay is to be published in the Society's Magazine.

THE LIBRARY AND MAP DEPARTMENT.

During the past session 301 books, 77 pamphlets, 253 reports, 12 atlases, 291 map-sheets and charts have been added to the Library. The transactions and periodicals regularly received number 127. The number of volumes borrowed by members was 2571, and the Library was, as usual, much consulted by others in search of geographical information.

The Council desire to record their thanks to the foreign and colonial Governments for the official publications they have presented to the Library; as also to the Ordnance Survey; to the Geological Survey of Scotland; to the Admiralty; to the Edinburgh University; to the Survey of India and the Topographical Survey of Canada; and to Messrs. W. and A. K. Johnston, Ltd.; to the Corporation Art Gallery and Museum, Bradford; and also to the under-mentioned private donors of books and maps, viz.: Dr. T. D. Anderson, Innerwick; Mr. H. M. Cadell, Bo'ness; the late Mr. Charles Campbell, J.P., Cramond Bridge; Mr. George Campbell, W.S., Edinburgh; Rt. Hon. Lord Cassillis, J.P.; Mr. G. M. Goodwille, Edinburgh; Colonel R. Gordon, Blairgowrie; Mr. J. H. Gubbins, Edinburgh; Dr. Douglas Guthrie, Edinburgh; Mr. John Hume, Edinburgh; Dr. C. Du Riche Preller, Edinburgh; and Dr. James Watt, Edinburgh. In addition the Council have to record their thanks to the following for their valuable presentations to the Society Mr. J. H. Kenneth, F.R.S.G.S., Dumbarton, a small unique pocket sundial (eighteenth, or beginning nineteenth century); Miss Kerr, Edinburgh, a number of astronomical diagrams and models; Mr. A. G. Stenhouse, Leith, a valuable six-inch theodolite; Mrs. Gabrielle M. Vassal, Paris, a small collection of objects from French Equatorial Africa.

MEETINGS OF THE SOCIETY.

The Society's Anniversary Meeting was addressed by Captain Roald Amundsen on his flight to the Pole. Twenty-four meetings of the Society were held, six in Edinburgh, seven in Glasgow, six in Dundee, and five in Aberdeen. In addition, six afternoon lectures were delivered in Edinburgh.

The ordinary meetings were addressed by Robert M. Adam, “The Barra Isles : Glimpses of Western Island Life"; Miss Helen Mary Boulnois, "The Last of the Savages in Sunniest Africa"; Sir Percy Cox, G.C.M.G., G.C.I.E., K.C.S.I., "Travels and Experiences in Persia"; G. M. Dyott, F.R.G.S., "Adventures amongst the Volcanoes and Backwoods of Ecuador"; Mrs. Julia Henshaw, "The National Parks of Canada"; R. Stuart M'Nairn, F.R.G.S., “The Incas of Peru: the Story of a Lost Civilisation"; Mrs. Gabrielle M. Vassal, "Life in the French Congo."

The afternoon meetings were addressed by Robert M. Adam, "The Barra Isles: Glimpses of Western Island Life"; Michael C. Andrews, F.R.S.G.S., "The Map of Scotland in the Nautical Charts of the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Centuries"; Rev. T. Ratcliffe Barnett, Ph.D., "The Scottish Moors"; Rev. W. A. Gillies of Kenmore, "The Charm of Breadalbane"; Rev. A. E. Robertson, "The Mountains of Scotland"; Sir Everard im Thurn, K.C.M.G., K.B.E., "Early European Voyages in the South-West Pacific."

DONATION TO THE SOCIETY.

A donation of £500 has been received by the Treasurer of the Society. The donor of this generous gift wishes to remain anonymous, but it will interest members to know that it was presented by one who was a very old friend, in memory of the late Dr. J. G. Bartholomew, one of the founders of the Society, and one of the Honorary Secretaries for thirty-six years.

EXHIBITION OF TOPOGRAPHICAL AND ASTRONOMICAL SURVEYING

INSTRUMENTS.

An Exhibition of Topographical and Astronomical Surveying Instruments was opened in the Society's Rooms on June 1, and continued open for three weeks. During this time twenty-five demonstrations were given to senior pupils from Edinburgh Schools, who were accompanied by their teachers; there was also a good attendance of members and the general public, to whom the uses of the instruments were explained by Mr. J. Mathieson, F.R.S. E., F.R.S.G.S. (see p. 230). THE SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE.

A prominent feature of the Scottish Geographical Magazine, during the past year, has been the appearance of a series of articles by Mr. Michael Andrews on "Scotland in the Portolan Charts." The series, which is not yet completed, gives a comprehensive survey of the subject by one who is a recognised authority. Among other important papers, mention may be made of Mr. Donald Sutherland's study of the vegetation of the Cumbrae Islands and South Bute. Owing to the help given by the Carnegie Trustees it has been possible to illustrate this paper lavishly. A gratifying feature, as showing that the Magazine is widely read and appreciated, is the number of papers which have been sent to the Editors for publication from areas outside Scotland, including both the continent of Europe and regions much further afield. With this may be associated the fact that a large amount of material, both books and pamphlets, reaches the Society from the Dominions and foreign countries with requests for reviews or notice. The Magazine thus affords the members of the Society a means of keeping in touch with the progress of geographical science throughout the world, and the increase in the sales of copies, which is world wide, is most gratifying.

The Council desire to acknowledge their obligations to the contributors of articles and to the following who have rendered valuable assistance to the Editors :Mr. J. H. Birrell; Dr. R. N. Rudmose-Brown; Mr. H. M. Cadell; Mr. W. L. Calderwood; Dr. George G. Chisholm; Mr. A. O. Cooke; Dr. Douglas Guthrie ; Mr. A. P. Gray; Mr. W. R. Kermack; Mr. G. C. Ligertwood; Dr. D. C. T. Mekie; Mr. J. D. Monro; Rev. Dr. J. Morrison; Mr. T. S. Muir; Mr. John M'Farlane; Mr. C. T. Macgregor; Mr. Alan G. Ogilvie; Mr. D. Pryde; Mr. Ralph Richardson; Prof. J. Y. Simpson; Mr. A. Stevens; Mrs. Kirkland Vesey ; and Mr. W. B. Wilson.

OBITUARY.

The Council desire to place on record their sense of the great loss that they have sustained through the death of His Grace the Duke of Montrose, K.T., for thirty-six years a Vice-President of the Society, who in the early days of the Society took a great interest in advancing its activities. The Council also desire to record their sense of the loss sustained through the death of Sir Colin G. Macrae, W.S., who as a Trustee of the Society for ten years (1909-1919) served on the Council, where his advice was always highly valued.

The Council also regret to record the deaths, among others, of Mr. J. Y. Buchanan, F.R.S.E.; Sir John Gladstone of Fasque; Dr. Archibald Mackay, Lismore; Dr. B. N. Peach (see p. 98); and Mrs. Bullock Workman, the wellknown Himalayan explorer and traveller, and a Fellow of the Society.