SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT oD 
from its membership, and from the present Endowment Fund 
has been sufficient, with rigid economy, to provide for the present 
general expenses, but before any scientific work, either in re- 
search or publication, can be undertaken, a far larger amount 
will have to be provided. With an annual income of less than 
$30,000 from funds which are available for the purposes of the 
Society, it is obvious that our work is greatly restricted. Of 
this fund a little over $3,000 comes from Sustaining Member- 
ships, which will not be available after 1913, so that we shall 
require about $75,000 of additional endowment to retain our 
present income. 
The American Museum of Natural History, founded in 1869, 
now has an annual income from its contributed funds of $108,- 
770.52, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in this city enjoys 
an income much larger. It is therefore obvious that the Zoological 
Society must have a larger endowment before it is in the same 
sound financial position as these institutions. Increases to the 
Income Account will have to come primarily from endowment 
rather than from annual memberships, because none of these 
institutions have succeeded in maintaining an active membership, 
paying yearly dues, of a sufficient size to produce an adequate 
net income from this source. Our annual membership compares 
favorably in point of numbers with that of the older institutions 
when the date from organization, viz., 1895, is considered. 
MEMBERSHIP, JANUARY 1, 1912. 
Annual Total 
New York Zoological Society........ 1,566 1,902 
American Museum of Natural History 1,945 2,656 
Metropolitan Museum of Art........ 2,366 Soil 
The need for additional income is becoming annually more 
pressing, and has greatly crippled the Society in its work for 
game preservation, and with the opportunities for biological re- 
search in connection with the new Aquarium, will come an in- 
creasing demand on these funds. 
Your Committee, therefore, request the members of the 
Board of Managers to use their best endeavors to obtain either 
subscriptions to the Endowment Fund, or bequests, which at 
some future time will add to the funds of the Society. 
