146 Belfast Natural History Society. 



entifically arranged, properly labelled, and exhibited in suitable 

 cases ; so that in a verj' few months the Council expect to have the 

 entire collection displayed in the large room in which we are now 

 assembled. To eflPect this object, to liquidate il»e debt incurred, 

 and to render the establishment of the Museum coeval with the 

 diffusion of a taste for natural science in this part of the country, 

 are the purposes to which all their energies are now directed. Be- 

 fore concluding their Report, the Council wish to call the atten- 

 tion of members and friends to the necessity of exertion in procu- 

 ring additional subscriptions to the building-fund, so as to leave the 

 Society unimpeded in their efforts to render the Museum of the 

 greatest possible advantage ; and also to the propriety of endea- 

 vouring to obtain additional specimens for the collection. To aid 

 persons going abroad, or living at a distance, full directions for 

 preserving and preparing specimens have been published ; many 

 copies of these have been circulated with good effect ; and the 

 Secretary is always willing to supply others lo any person wishing 

 for such information. In calling to this subject the attention of ail 

 persons having friends residing abroad, the Council wish particu- 

 larly to address those who have friends in the Royal Navy on any 

 of the foreign stations ; merchants having ships going to foreign 

 countries; and masters of vessels belonging to this port. All these 

 have great opportunities of contributing largely lo such an under- 

 taking ; and the Council have no doubt that this appeal will be 

 sufficient to ensure their co-operation and assistance. As regards 

 the Society, they can promise that every necessary attention will 

 be paid to selecting, arranging, and preserving all donations sent 

 in for this Museum. It is not merely to persons residing abroad 

 that this appeal is directed ; even those living at home have fre- 

 quent opportunities of aiding such an Institution as this. Speci- 

 mens of a kind suited to a Museum are always occurring, which, 

 though of little value to the possessors in their detached state, may 

 be of great use in a Museum, by enabling the Directors to com- 

 plete their series, or by comparison with specimens already there. 

 Antiquities, also, connected with the history of our own country, 

 are always presenting themselves. These, from not being col- 

 lected into one place, lose a great part of their value: they are 

 neither useful to elucidate the general history of the arts, nor the 

 particular antiquities of Ireland. The circumstances, also, under 

 which they are found, and the locality, are soon forgotten ; and 

 thus a great part of the interest connected with them is lost. The 

 Council having now concluded their Report, beg leave, in the name 

 of the Society, to return their thanks to those noblemen and gen- 

 tlemen who have contributed to the erection of the present build- 

 ing, and to the collection of specimens; and to assure them, that 

 it will always be the great object of the members to fulfil, as far as 

 in their power, the plan of the original prospectus, by endeavour- 

 ing to render the Museum worthy of the liberal spirit by which it 

 has been so far supported. 



The 



