THE ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY 301 



Agricultural Society of Ireland, already referred to, 

 contemplated the formation of a new body which 

 would be quite distinct from the Royal Dublin 

 Society ; and very naturally the Government declined 

 to regard this new body as entitled to accommodation 

 in Leinster House. To remove this difficulty the 

 proposed bifurcation of the Royal Dublin Society was 

 abandoned, and it was agreed that the Society should 

 admit the members of the Royal Agricultural Society, 

 and take over its property. This change in policy 

 was facilitated by the fact that since amalgamation 

 had been originally proposed, the agricultural work of 

 the Royal Dublin Society had rapidly developed, while 

 the prospects of the Royal Agricultural Society had 

 gone from bad to worse. 



While the negotiations were proceeding, it became 

 evident that there was a wide diversity of opinion as 

 to what accommodation the Society would require in 

 Leinster House for its future work. This and the 

 friction that arose on other points induced the Society 

 to press for an immediate ratification of the agree- 

 ment with the Government of March the 5th, 1877, 

 under the provisions of the Dublin Science and Art 

 Museum Act, which enabled the Society and the 

 Government to make agreements in furtherance of 

 the Act, that would have the same effect as if the 

 agreements had been embodied in it. 



The formal agreement under the Act was not 

 signed until March the 1st, 1881, though the main 

 points at issue had been settled in an interview with 

 some members of the Government at the Privy Council 

 Office, Westminster, in May 1879. 



A report of the settlement was laid before the 

 Society on June the 5th, 1879, in which the Council 

 said : 



