8 



ance of the active support of our Correspondents, this source 

 of Income will maintain its importance as long as the Collec- 

 tion is kept up to its present strength. In evidence of the 

 truth of this anticipation, it is sufficient to state that the 

 Council have, in consequence of the accessions of last year, 

 been enabled to part with the youngest male Giraffe, and 

 thereby reahze £350 without in any degree impairing the 

 prospective increase of the herd, which now consists of three 

 females and two males. 



The Memorial which the Council addressed to the Com- 

 missioners of Her Majesty's Woods, Forests and Land Re- 

 venues in 1848, has, with the consent of the Lords of the 

 Treasury, obtained a reduction in the Groimd-Rent paid for 

 the Gardens, which is now taken at £337 per annum, and 

 will therefore effect a reduction in the Annual Expenditure 

 under that head to the amount of £167. 



The Council gratefully recognize, in this act of attention to 

 their statement of the Society's educational resources, a desire 

 on the part of Her jMajesty's Government to promote the 

 study of Natural History, and an appreciation of the recent 

 efforts to extend it by the facilities which are now afforded to 

 Visitors of all classes. 



The comparison of Income with Expenditure is, however, 

 still unfavourable, if the extraordinary outlay for New Build- 

 ings is not regarded as a change of investment rather than 

 expenditure. 



But the great advance which has been made in the per- 

 manently productive Property of the Society by the erection 

 of substantial Buildings since the year 1842, and especially 

 in the years 1848 and 1849, has brought the establishment 

 to a state of efficiency and attractiveness which the Council 

 have reason to believe will, for the present, obviate the ne- 

 cessity of immediate operations of this character beyond the 

 works now in progress. 



The Buildings completed or erected during the year 1849 

 are of the most important description, and, the Council flatter 

 themselves, have already had great effect in reference to In- 

 come, while they have undeniably been the means of preser- 

 ving in health some of the most interesting animals in the 

 Collection. The payments on account of the completed per- 



