annually presented to the Society, and partly from new duties 

 devolving on them, it appeared to the Council desirable to reconsider 

 the amounts of the "honoraria" presented annually to those gentle- 

 men as an acknowledgement, but by no means as a remuneration, 

 of their services. As a preliminary step, a Committee * was ap- 

 pointed to inquire into and to report on the duties of the Secretaries 

 at various times, and on the gratuities which have been awarded 

 them, as well as on the present financial condition of the Society. 

 With your permission I will read the Report of this Committee. 



" Your Committee beg to report to the Council, that, in perform- 

 ing the task which was imposed upon them, they have inquired into 

 the duties of the Secretaries at various times, the gratuities which 

 have been awarded to them, and the financial condition of the Society. 



" They have been favoured with valuable information and opinions 

 by former Officers of the Royal Society, Sir John Herschel, Mr. 

 Brande, Dr. Roget, and Sir John Lubbock. 



" Previous to the year 1 720 no regular Salaries were assigned to 

 the Secretaries, but it was customary to present them from time to 

 time with sums varying from XlO to %() under the name of ' Gra- 

 tuities.* 



" In 1720, on the motion of the President, Sir Isaac Newton, the 

 Council directed that .50 should be paid to each of the two Secre- 

 taries annually. In 1 732 this amount was increased to .60, and in 

 1760 to .70 10$. In November 1799, on the motion of the Pre- 

 sident, Sir Joseph Banks, the amount of the Salaries was recon- 

 sidered by the Council, and raised to One Hundred Guineas to each 

 Secretary, at which amount they have remained from that time to 

 the present. 



" The office of * Foreign Secretary ' originated in a legacy of .500 

 bequeathed to the Society in 1719 by Mr. Robert Keck, for the 

 express purpose of remunerating a person for carrying on foreign 

 correspondence. In 1720 the first Foreign Secretary was appointed, 

 with a Salary of .20 a year, which sum has been paid, without in- 

 crease, from that time to the present. 



" It is the concurrent opinion of all who have the best means of 

 knowing, that since the gratuities were last fixed in 1 799 the busi- 



* Consisting of the President, the Treasurer, the Rev. J. Barlow, Mr. Bell, and 

 Dr. W. Farr. 



