SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT 35 



from its membership, and from the present Endowment Fund 

 has been sufficient, with rigid economy, to provide for the present 

 general expenses, but before any scientific work, either in re- 

 search or publication, can be undertaken, a far larger amount 

 will have to be provided. With an annual income of less than 

 $30,000 from funds which are available for the purposes of the 

 Society, it is obvious that our work is greatly restricted. Of 

 this fund a little over $3,000 comes from Sustaining Member- 

 ships, which will not be available after 1913, so that we shall 

 require about $75,000 of additional endowment to retain our 

 present income. 



The American Museum of Natural History, founded in 1869, 

 now has an annual income from its contributed funds of $108,- 

 770.52, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in this city enjoys 

 an income much larger. It is therefore obvious that the Zoological 

 Society must have a larger endowment before it is in the same 

 sound financial position as these institutions. Increases to the 

 Income Account will have to come primarily from endowment 

 rather than from annual memberships, because none of these 

 institutions have succeeded in maintaining an active membership, 

 paying yearly dues, of a sufficient size to produce an adequate 

 net income from this source. Our annual membership compares 

 favorably in point of numbers with that of the older institutions 

 when the date from organization, viz., 1895, is considered. 



MEMBERSHIP, JANUARY 1, 1912. 



Annual Total 



New York Zoological Society 1,566 1,902 



American Museum of Natural History 1,945 2,656 



Metropolitan Museum of Art 2,366 3,151 



The need for additional income is becoming annually more 

 pressing, and has greatly crippled the Society in its work for 

 game preservation, and with the opportunities for biological re- 

 search in connection with the new Aquarium, will come an in- 

 creasing demand on these funds. 



Your Committee, therefore, request the members of the 

 Board of Managers to use their best endeavors to obtain either 

 subscriptions to the Endowment Fund, or bequests, which at 

 some future time will add to the funds of the Society. 



