8 



least take care that it shall not be allowed to fall below the 

 contemplated minimum. 



It is to be understood, that the £12,660 above mentioned 

 is exclusive of a farther sum of £302 12*. od., the produce of 

 £97 15s. 5d. cash, and of £204 16*. 10(/. Exchequer Bills 

 sold last March, and invested in the 3 per cent. Consols on 

 account of the Museum Fund. The entire funded property 

 of the Society consequently amounts, at the present day, to 

 £12,962 12*. 3d, 



c. Arrears. 



The Council liave to regret the large amount of Arrears 

 due to the Society on account of the years 1838 and 1839, 

 and the continually-recurring necessity under which they 

 find themselves placed, and which they feel to be the most 

 disagreeable part of their duty, of enforcing the By-Laws by 

 the removal of the defaulters. 333 Fellows have been al- 

 ready removed on this account within the last five years, 

 and the funds of the Society have suffered, by their defal- 

 cation, to the amount of £1843. In noticing this subject, 

 the Committee of Auditors have suggested to the Fellows 

 in general, " the advantage which would accrue to the So- 

 ciety by the payment of their subscriptions through their 

 respective bankers, on the 1st of every January, to Messrs. 

 Drummonds, the Society's bankers." The Council most 

 cordially join in this judicious recommendation, and beg 

 leave to press strongly on the attention of their fellow Mem- 

 bers, the importance of the suggestion, not only as regards 

 the interests of the Society, but more especially as conducive 

 to their own individual comforts and convenience. The 

 Collector is at no time a welcome visitor ; his repeated calls 

 are often inconvenient and sometimes troublesome ; gentle- 

 men are frequently absent from home, or engaged in busi- 

 ness which cannot be interrupted ; subscriptions which thus 

 fall in arrear from pure carelessness or inattention, in the 

 first instance, gradually accumulate, till it becomes a ques- 

 tion between paying the arrears or resigning the Fellow- 

 ship, and the latter alternative is too frequently chosen. 

 Those who would not scruple to pay £3 at the beginning 



