oar, shores a,nd to visitors generally. Several members 

 oi' the Society, have at various meetings, shown the 

 desirability of Port Louis possessing a suitable build- 

 ing for the reception of a Museum and a Public Li- 

 brary, and in which the Scientific Institutions of the 

 Colony should also have their Rooms. Even as far 

 back as 1840, an Ordinance (No. 20 of 1840) was 

 passed by the Legislative Council, providing a sum 

 of £10,000 for the erection of a Public Library, being 

 at the same time, an Exchange Room ; but this Ordi- 

 nance was never approved of by the Queen, and things 

 have been allowed to remain as they were, up to the 

 present day. The Council of the Society will confine 

 itself to expressing the hope that the scheme be re- 

 considered, as soon as the finances of the colony will 

 permit. 



It has also been proposed to transfer the Museum 

 to the Botanical Gardens at Pamplemousses, but this 

 removal would occasion so many inconveniences to the 

 public and particularly ^to students, that the Council 

 can see no grounds to justify such a step. On the 

 contrary, it is highly desirable that the Herbarium, 

 which formerly formed part of the Museum, and which 

 on account of want of space, was removed, some years 

 ago to Pamplemousses be returned to town to be re- 

 placed in the enlarged Museum, the more so as it con- 

 tains many typical specimens collected in Madagascar 

 and in Mauritius by Messrs. Bojer and Boutou, and 

 most useful for comparison. 



