95 



(commencing on the 1st of January, 1847;) until one of 

 the contracting parties shall give notice of their desire to 

 terminate it. 



The Report was adopted. 



The Ordinary Meeting of the Society was then held, 

 the President in the Chair. 



The Secretary read a letter from Mr. Price, of Bir- 

 kenhead, thanking the Society for their subscription of ten 

 guineas to his forthcoming work on Natural History, enti- 

 tled "The Birkenhead Shore." 



Dr. Trench gave notice of motion, " That the Society 

 discontinue publishing its Transactions." 



Mr. Price, in a letter read before the Society, called the 

 attention of the members to various localities interesting to 

 the geologist, botanist, &c. 



Dr. Duncan introduced Mr. South, who exhibited and 

 explained a Model of the Patent Bamoneur Machine for 

 Sweeping Chimneys. 



Mr. Sutton read a Paper on the Importance of Agri- 

 cultural Statistics. 



The object of this Paper is, to advocate the adoption 

 of some system by which the supply of food for our over- 

 grown population may be evenly regulated, by some properly 

 acquired and duly authenticated information, — >and not as 

 it is now, by the mere guess work of the farmer and 

 merchant. 



That it is now governed by a mere system of speculation, 

 founded upon the most crude and imperfect statements, 

 and such as would be considered totally insufficient for 

 any other commercial purpose, must be admitted on all 

 hands. I find that the first mention ever made of Agri- 

 cultural Statistics in the House of Commons, was by 

 Mr. Stafford O'Brien, at the close of the last session, and 

 that lie has recently called attention to it again. I cannot 



