9 



of the year, for prospective amusement, object to pay £6 or 

 £9 for what is ah'eady past ; and it is therefore not less for 

 the advantage of the Society than for the personal conveni- 

 ence of the Fellows themselves, that the Council unite with 

 the Auditors in strongly recommending the payment of all 

 subscriptions in future by general orders (the form of which 

 may be obtained at the office or through the collector) on the 

 i-espective bankers of the Members, — an arrangement which 

 would secure gentlemen from all future trouble and impor- 

 tunity. 



d. Financial Prospects, 



The different branches of Receipt and Expenditure are 

 set forth at large in the Report of the Committee of Auditors, 

 already in the hands of the Fellows ; where the deficit in 

 the ordinary income of the past year, as compared with that 

 immediately preceding it, in the various items of Garden 

 Receipts, Admission Fees, Annual Subscriptions and Life 

 Compositions, are also noticed. But if the Incom.e of the 

 Society, which must always fluctuate more or less with the 

 changes of the seasons, was less in 1839 than in 1838, so 

 likewise was the Expenditure ; and it is gratifying to reflect, 

 that whilst there are very fair prospects of increasing re- 

 ceipts at the Gardens during the ensuing summer and au- 

 tumn, there is no apparent reason to anticipate any neces- 

 sity for augmenting the ordinary outlay, even should it be 

 found inexpedient to diminish it still farther. There is al- 

 ready a considerable balance (£298 18*. Qd.) on the import- 

 ant item of Garden Receipts in favour of the current year 

 as compared with the corresponding period of the past, 

 which affords a convincing proof that the deficits of the last 

 two seasons are to be attributed to the continued prevalence 

 of rainy and unfavourable weather, more especially during 

 the summer and autumn of 1839, and that they were in no 

 degree owing to any deficiency of attractiveness on the part 

 of the Society, or to decreased interest on that of the pub- 

 lic. But supposing that these prospects should not be 

 realized, and that this fluctuating branch of income, for the 



