15 
the Society in 1853 by the late Sir Putuip 
Crampton, who may be regarded as the founder of 
the Society. 
This remarkable fossil was exhibited in the 
Zoological Gardens for eight years up to 1861, 
when the Council, believing that they would 
better carry out Sir Pariip Crampron’s wishes by 
exhibiting the Plescosaurus in immediate conjunc- 
tion with other similar fossils, deposited it in trust 
in the Museum of the Royal Dublin Society, where, 
for a period of sixteen years, it has proved more 
useful for the advancement of Natural Science in 
Dublin than it would have been if its exhibition 
had been continued in the Zoological Gardens in 
association with a collection of living animals. 
The proposal of the Government, during the 
course of last year, to convert the Museum of the 
Royal Dublin Society into the National Museum 
of Ireland, to be supported altogether out of public 
funds, rendered it necessary for your Council to 
decide what should be done with the Plestosaurus 
Cramptonz, the ownership in which your Council 
had never relinquished. 
For the reasons already assigned as having in- 
fluenced your Council in 1861, it would have been 
undesirable to renew the exhibition of this valu- 
able fossil in the Zoological Gardens. 
Your Council further felt that the New National 
Museum had no claim on their generosity, such as 
