30 NATURAL SCIENCE. july. 



appearance the beauty of which you will have an opportunity of 

 seeing during the next few days. 



In 1819 the grant to the Society was reduced to ^7,000. 



In 1820 the Society assumed the title "Royal" on the occasion of 

 George IV. becoming the patron, and in 1832 the Lords of the 

 Treasury directed a reduction in the Society's estimates to the 

 amount of ^1,600, and that the apartments and collections should 

 be rendered accessible to subscribers, who need not be elected 

 members of the Society. 



In the year 1836 a Select Committee of the House of Commons 

 reported in favour of an extension of Leinster House, in order to afford 

 increased museum accommodation and recommended an expenditure 

 of ;/f3,ooo for this purpose. It was, moreover, affirmed to be expedient, 

 in reference to future grants of public money, that it should be fully 

 understood that the members of the Society must be regarded as 

 trustees administering public money, and that a clear and distinct 

 guarantee should be given by the Society that the public were entitled 

 to the full and entire use of the property. In response to a special 

 request by the Treasury, this view of the position of the Society was 

 admitted by a resolution passed on the 22nd of December, 1836, and 

 on the nth of May, 1837, a further resolution of the Society affirmed 

 that, in consideration of the Parliamentary grants made to the Society, 

 it was just and reasonable that it should not alienate any of its 

 property without the approval of the Lords of the Treasury. ^ 



In the year 1840 the Irish Government entered into correspon- 

 dence with the Society, pointing out that it had not carried out certain 

 recommendations with regard to its development as a scientific insti- 

 tution, to which the Society replied that it was not, nor was it ever 

 intended to be, a scientific body ; but in this respect its intentions 

 have since undergone considerable change. In 1841 the Parliamentary 

 grant was withheld, but was restored in the following year. In 

 the same year the Society established an Agricultural Museum ; 

 in it the principal objects were implements, seeds, models of fruits, 

 vegetables, and veterinary preparations. In 1844 a sum of /'150 was 

 voted for the annual support of this Museum. 



In 184-2 a special extra sum of ^300 was voted by Government 

 to the Society for the purpose of providing gratuitous public lectures 

 in provincial towns — a system which had been first established in 1839 

 The regular annual grant to the Society at this time was ^^5,300. 



In 1843 the Society memorialised the Government for a special 

 grant of ;^3,oco for the formation of a National Museum, and ;^4,ooo 

 for renewal of buildings in the Botanic Gardens. In this memorial it 

 was pointed out that while the annual grant had diminished from 

 ;^io,ooo in 1800 to ;^5,30o for the current year, that to the British 

 Museum had increased from ;^3,ooo in 1804 to /"Si, 000. 



2 According to a Treasury Report, issued in 1876, the public grants made to the 

 Society between iSoi and 1S35 inclusive amounted to ;^2g3,705. 



