59 



Special General Meeting duly convened for the 

 j)urpose. 



We extremely regret to say that a very large 

 reduction was made in the Government Grant for 

 the year. The total amount, instead of being 

 £750 as in 1866, was reduced to £600. Of this 

 only £200 was for the Museum, and £400 for the 

 maintenance of the Gardens, and salary of the 

 Superintendent. 



It is unnecessary to point out the inadequacy 

 of these grants for the purj^oses to which they are 

 applied, but the Council, after remonstrating with 

 Government on the subject, were forced to be 

 satisfied with an answer to the effect that the re- 

 duction was unavoidable, owing to the condition 

 of the public finances. 



Our income, inclusive of the Grant to the 

 Gardens, has been from all sources £990 18s. 8d., 

 which, with £187 10s. received from the Treasury 

 as the balance of the Grant due from 1866, £30 

 12s. in the hands ot the Superintendent of the 

 Botanic Gardens, and arrears of subscriptions £25, 

 will give a total of £1134 Os. 8d. The expendi- 

 ture and estimated liabilities amount to £1143 

 19s. lid., leaving to our debit a balance of £9 

 19s. 3d. 



As will be seen by the balance sheet a large 

 amount is still due for subscrij)tions. A special 

 appeal was made by circular a few months since, 

 to Members in arrear, and although in many in- 

 stances it was promptly responded to, in others 

 the Subscription is still unpaid — leaving the 

 Society at the end of the year with a balance 

 against it when the reverse should have been the 

 case. 



MUSEUM. 



Many specimens have been added to the Geolo- 



