360 Timehri. 



in direct contributions to the colony though many of them drew consider- 

 able revenue from it. They sounded the principal proprietors and found 

 that they were willing to make a hearty response. The drought con- 

 tinued and there was a bad year for sugar. He did f iot think any of them 

 had the heart to press the matter just at that stage, and they thought 

 tiat in a prosperous year for sugar they could get £2.000 or £3,000 from 

 tie big proprietors to help to improve the library. The Museum did not 

 e )me into this list of finances, but there something could be done. The 

 (iDvernment gave them instead of the former $4,500, $2,000, part of 

 which went to the salary of the honorary curator. In any other country 

 fie museum was a matter for the Government or the Municipality, and 

 hi thought in no matter in this country had the Government been more 

 siort-sighted and more stingy in the wrong place than in its treatment of 

 t leir Museum. They had given a conversazione, lantern lectures, and 

 rifreshments and attracted members. They would continue. Instead of 

 t lree or four dry-as-dust papers a year, which used to be the case for many 

 years before 1910, they took up subjects vital to the colony and made 

 them interesting. He thought Mr. Garnett had taken too pessimistic a 

 view of the gathering there. It was a very considerable number, and it 

 must be remembered that it was not known there was to be a presidential 

 address. He was quite sure that many would not come because they 

 thought they would have an informal discussion about popularising the 

 Society and he did not think many were in favour of any scheme of 

 popularisation which would lower the value of the membership. The 

 Society had a great prestige, and they were not to go into the highways 

 of the streets to ask for members. They should instead limit the 

 members and exact a higher qualification. They should try to attract 

 only those who would be useful to the Society, and if they went and 

 hauled in all and sundry, willing to pay S5 or $10, which, however, he 

 did not say was Mr. Garnett's suggestion, they would come to sure 

 disaster. 



Influence of " Timehri/' 

 They made the Society efficient by the revival of " Timehri," which 

 made a profit last year of S195. The year before by the set policy of 

 the directors they went to an expenditure of $500 for the purpose of 

 placing the facts of the colony so far as they knew them before the 

 Governor on his arrival and by advertising the resources of the colony 

 and they circulated 1.000 copies. That cost $529 over and above 

 revenue. Even taking that into account, the deficit for three years 

 on " Timehri " was $404, and against that must be the fact that 

 the Society undertook to pay 8d. a copy for the number sent free 

 of three issues and a shilling a copy thereafter. It had done a 

 great deal to popularise the Society and if they divided that 8404, the 

 total loss on three years, and set it against the 1,760 copies circulated 

 for the benefit of the colony, he thought it would be found that the 

 annual cost of $135 was well repaid. In that sense the Society had 

 done the work of popularising. They had made the Society known 

 throughout the West Indies and wherever the scientific world read the 



