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I have little else to say regarding this Bay, except that I expected to find a much more rich and populous country than I did, especially about Ichinomaki. Pheasants and duck must abound in the winter, a few heron, gull (larus argentatus), oyster catchers, (hœmatopus ostralegus), ospreys, (aquila haliœtus) and the common cormorant, were almost the only birds I saw.
On one of the Islands I found a most perfect specimen of the lower part of the trunk of a large tree, petrified in the sand-stone 60 feet below the surface. It was in a small cleft, where the outer portion of rock had fallen out. The large roots were clearly seen, and the position of the tree was evidently such as it had grown in.
A General Meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday evening the 14th October 1874 at the Grand Hotel. There was a good attendance. The Chair was taken by Sir H. S. Parkes, one of the Vice Presidents, shortly before nine o’clock.
The Minutes of the Annual Meeting having been read and approved, it was announced that the following gentlemen had been elected Ordinary Members of the Society since the last General Meeting:—the Rev. D.C. Green, Messrs. Kingdon, C. de Drummond Hay, J. Sichel, G. H. Howell, Hatakeyama, and Struve, B. H. Chamberlain. It was also announced that several valuable donations to the Library and Museum had been made, the principal of which, a model of a gold Mine and Works at the Island of Sado, presented by Erasmus Gower Esq., was exhibited on a side table and attracted considerable attention from those present.
The author being absent, Mr. Wilkin then proceeded to read the first of the two Papers for the evening, being the first of a series on “The Useful Minerals and Metallurgy of the Japanese.” The subject principally treated in this Paper was the manufacture of Iron and Steel.
The Chairman said he was quite sure all the Members and Visitors present would join him in presenting the Society’s best thanks to Dr. Geerts for his very valuable and interesting Paper and they would look forward with much pleasure to the future contributions of the series, which promised to be a very comprehensive one. He was glad to see many members present who were competent to discuss such an important subject and be hoped they would favour the Society with the result of their valuable experience.
