labour, and all the miscellaneous expenses of the establish- 

 ment not otherwise accounted for. 



:3. The Provisions amounted to £3609 12*. *Jd., not- 

 withstanding the extensive use of horse-flesh in feeding 

 the Carnivora, and every other economy which could be 

 safely practised with regard to the health of the animals. 

 This' inci-ease is principally due to the advanced price of 

 meat and of hay, the quantity of these articles now con- 

 sumed in the Menagerie being far more considerable than 

 in former periods, when the Collection of Carnivora, 

 Pachyderms, and Ruminants was far inferior to its present 

 state. 



4. The Repairs, Painting, b;c. have amounted to £2577 

 As. \Qd. Wear and tear in an establishment like that of 

 the Society is necessarily very great, and the only means 

 of reducing the expenditure under this head within mode- 

 rate limits is to prevent the accumulation of dilapidations, 

 as well by constant and timely attention, as by substituting 

 brick and stone for wood whenever it is possible. 



The great improvements which have been eflfected in 

 this last respect will, the Council trust, enable them hence- 

 forth to effect a considerable decrease in this part of the 

 expenditure, considered in relation to the great extent of 

 the Society's property. 



5. Gardeners^ Department. — The expenditure under 

 this head amounted to £792 185. \d. ; of which £567 

 I'Js. 9d. was the cost of labour, and £140 19*. 6d. for the 

 purchase of Plants, Seeds, and Evergreens. The effects 

 produced appear to have given general satisfaction to the 

 Fellows as well as to the Visitors, and the Council have 

 every reason to be satisfied with the improved results of 

 this interesting accessory to the attractions of the Society's 

 establishment. 



Among several minor donations to this department, it 

 is only fair to distinguish the liberality of Mr. Turner of 

 Slough, who presented 1500 of the finest Dahlia Plants, 

 and furnished the large parterres on the south side of the 

 Garden in the most brilliant and effective manner. 



The increased stock of those plants which have proved 

 most successful in the Regent's Park is now so consider- 

 able, that, except under very adverse contingencies, the 

 general effect of the Garden must be still more striking in 

 the course of the current year than even in the summer of 

 1854. 



