kindly taken charge of a few fossils from Darling Downs, Queensland, 

 which I present to the Royal Society if they are worthy of acceptance. 

 (Here foUotvs a description of the fossils as detailed in the list of donations). 



" In a letter from Professor Owen, dated Oct. 25th, 1876, he says his 

 large and expensive work on the Australian fossils will soon be published, 

 and adds, ' I have now got to p. 520, and plate 131 ! ' 

 " Yours, etc., etc., 



" Gkorge Bennett, M.D." 



The Secretary informed the meeting that the microscope then on 

 the table was presented to the Society by Mr. P. T. Smith prior to his 

 departure for England. The instrument was a first-class one, by Ross, 

 and was furnished with very many accessories, a vast number of mounted 

 objects, etc. It was a very great acquisition for the Society, as its value 

 (with its numerous appliances) could not be far short of £200. It had 

 recently belonged to the late Dr. Valentine of Campbell Town. 



The Secretary reported that the committee appomted at the late 

 general meeting of the Society, for the purpose of urging upon Government 

 the claims of the Public Gardens for an increase of the grant-in-aid, had 

 waited on the Hon. the Colonial Secretary, and had expressed the views 

 of the Society on the subject. In reply, the Colonial Secretary admitted 

 he was fully convinced as to the claims of the Gardens to increased 

 support, and expressed himself as being most desirous to do anything which 

 might be in his power in the matter. As his colleagues, however, were not 

 in town, he suggested that the committee should address to him a letter 

 containing a full statement of the case. This he would submit without 

 loss of time to the other members of Government for their consideration, 

 and, although of course they had no power to give immediate effect to the 

 views of the deputation, the subject would be brought by means of the 

 estimates under the consideration of Parliament at its next meeting. 



Subsequent to this interview the committee had agreed upon the 

 following letter, which was accordingly forwarded to the Honorable the 

 Colonial Secretary : — 



" Royal Society of Tasmania, 



"24th February, 1877. 



" Sir, — Agreeably to your request to the committee which was appointed 

 at a general meeting of this Society, to wait on you in order to advocate 

 the claims of the Public Gardens to increased assistance from Govern- 

 ment, I beg, on behalf of the committee, to submit the following 

 statement, which may be considered supplementary to former communi- 

 cations addressed to Government on the 20th May, 1875 ; 8th September, 

 1875 ; and 5th April, 1876 :— ' 



" The grant-in-aid is now only £400, and if we add to this £120 as the 

 extreme money value of the prison labour, the total assistance from 

 Government will not exceed £520 per annum, but may be less. Thirty- 

 seven years ago the assistance rendered by Government was equal to 

 £1,200 at the present time ; although at the former period the Gardens 

 were little more than half their present size, they contained jDrobably Little 

 more than one-tenth of the niunber of plants now in cultivation, and 

 labour and provisions, as calculated by Mr. Abbott, were about one-third 

 of their present value. The labour afforded by the prison gang, too, is 

 not satisfactory in character, as the men are naturally idle and indifferent, 

 and, from ignorance of the work, they cannot be employed in any operations 

 requiring skill or care ; and their supervision also requires the attention 

 of one of the few skilled gardeners, whose loss is consequently severely 

 felt elsewhere. 



" It is to be recollected that the Government grant only supplies labour 

 to the value of £250, as the very inadequate salary of the superintendent 

 absorbs the remainder, and is must therefore be self-evident that, for such 



