8 Royal Zoological Society of Ireland 



lectures by one of the most distinguished Professors of the 

 age; arrangements, however, are not sufficiently definite 

 for promulgation. His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin 

 having made a donation of £20 towards the construction 

 of fish ponds, application was made to His Excellency the 

 Lord Lieutenant, by whose permission water was brought 

 from the Vice-Regal Demesne into the upper part of the 

 Garden, where a small pond was formed ; from this a pipe 

 is carried supplying a jet which affords water to two other 

 small ponds (not yet completed) and to the Black Swan 

 Paddock, a desideratum in summer, when the ordinary 

 flow of water fails. The pipe brought into the Garden 

 will afford means, should the Society desire it, of 

 raising water to any height by the agency of a hydraulic 

 ram. A rabbit warren has been formed ; it is an 

 interesting object, and has afforded considerable 

 satisfaction. Much improvement has been effected in 

 the Gardens by the judicious thinning of the trees, under 

 the immediate personal direction of His Excellency the 

 Lord Lieutenant, while at the same time a good deal of 

 attention has been paid to the shrubs, etc., so as to add 

 greatly to the beauty of the grounds. A seal pond has 

 been constructed, and has answered the expectations of 

 the Council in preserving in perfect health a fine seal, 

 presented by Mr. Cooper, of Markree, in October last ; to 

 the want of a structure of this kind is probably to be 

 attributed the difficulty hitherto experienced of keeping 

 seals for any length of time in confinement. Your Council, 

 in compliance with the expressed wishes of several 

 members of the Society, restricted the number of lectures 

 to one at each evening meeting, and it afforded them 

 much pleasure to find that no diminution of interest 

 followed — the theatre, for which the Society is again 

 indebted to the kindness of the Royal Dublin Society, 

 being crowded each night of the meeting. Your Council 

 have great pleasure in calling your attention to the 

 accounts of the treasurer, for though it shows a trifling 

 addition to the balance against the Society, it also shows 

 that during the past year there was a considerable 

 increase in the expenditure, in purchase of animals and 

 in permanent improvements, which have placed the 

 Gardens in such a state as not necessarily to call for as 

 great an expenditure this year, while its attractions are 

 so much increased as to give reasonable grounds for 

 expecting a large increase of income. Amongst the many 



