6 



ness of the Society and the duties of the Secretaries have largely in- 

 creased. The increase of Fellows and the larger income of the So- 

 ciety have enabled it to extend its operations. In the ten years 

 1790 to 1799, 319 papers were communicated to the Society ; and 

 in the ten years 1850 to 1859, the number of such papers was 672. 

 Some of the communications are short notices for publication in the 

 ' Proceedings,' and it is impossible to determine precisely in what ratio 

 the work has increased ; but your Committee are disposed to believe 

 that it is represented approximately by the above figures. The 

 Secretaries now edit the * Transactions ' and the * Proceedings,' 

 which are found so useful by the Fellows, and this latter duty has 

 added considerably to their labour. 



" The current revenue of the Society may be set down at about 

 .3514, of which .1150 are derived from rents and dividends, and 

 .517 from the Stevenson bequest. The latter sum, it is known, 

 will increase as lives fall in. The annual subscriptions amount to 

 cH26 ; the entry fees, estimated on an average of eleven years, will 

 be about .170 ; the compositions .360 ; the ' Transactions' will yield 

 .276; making the aggregate revenue under these heads .1932. 

 Your Committee see no reason to believe that these sources of income 

 are likely to fail. 



" The current annual expenditure may be stated at about 2839 ; 

 namely, ! 1 77 on printing ; .764 on gratuities, salaries and wages ; 

 .187 on books and binding; 511 on house expenses; .200 on 

 Catalogue of Periodicals. These items necessarily fluctuate, and the 

 printing bill last year exceeded considerably the above amount ; but 

 the amount just stated for printing is estimated from an average of 

 the last eleven years. The income of the Society has thus for some 

 years exceeded the expenditure by about 675. 



" Looking at the duties which now devolve upon the Secretaries, 

 of regularly attending Meetings, reading papers, editing the * Trans- 

 actions,' preparing the ' Proceedings ' for publication, and other work, 

 looking also at the remuneration which it is found desirable to give 

 gentlemen who discharge less onerous duties merely as editors of 

 literary works in the present day, your Committee are of opinion 

 that the Council will be acting quite in conformity with the sound 

 principles which were laid down in Sir Isaac Newton's presidency, 

 and ha^e been acted on since, by increasing the gratuity to each of 



