additional patronage of the Institute of Popular Sci- 

 ence, your Council regret to report that these Lectures 

 failed to attract an audience sufficient to pay the ex- 

 penses; if, therefore, one of the most distinguished 

 of popular Lecturers, has failed to attract an audience, 

 it becomes a question of importance to determine 

 upon some other, perhaps less formal mode of com- 

 municating topics of interest, than the delivery of a 

 regular course of Lectures, or the more stately read- 

 ing of an Essay. 



Your Council cannot but again remark the failure 

 of native talent, in bringing forward Essays or Lec- 

 tures on Literary, or Scientific subjects. In this re- 

 spect your Society suffers, on comparison with similar 

 local institutions ; this, probably, is the result of some 

 peculiarity in the construction, or management of the 

 Society, but to whatever cause it may be attributable, 

 it is a circumstance much to be regretted, and calls 

 loudly for improvement. Your Council are aware of 

 an impression, that scientific subjects are generally 

 dull and uninviting — it is because they are so seldom 

 brought under the general view. Science, in all her 

 various forms, needs only to be seen and heard to be 

 admired. The trial of a system of Conversazioni, at 

 stated monthly, or other periods, which has been 

 successfully adopted in some of the Metropolitan 

 Institutions, deserves the consideration of the Society. 



Upwards of a year ago. Dr. Scoresby expressed his 

 intention and wish to present sundry Philosophical 



