lxxxiv REPORT—1899, 
speak, but your association with the Royal Society as Secretary for thirty-one Yeats, 
and subsequently as President, has given you a place which is without a parallel 
among those who, dutihg the last half-century, have fostered the progress of 
Science. 
That you may long continue among our leaders in the advance of knowledge is 
the earnest desire of the Association. 
The following letter has been received from the Secretaries of the 
Royal Society :— 
The Royal Society, Burlington House, London, W., 
November 29, 1898. 
DEAR SrR,—We are directed by the President and Council of the Royal Society 
to inform you that a Committee, consisting of Fellows of the Royal Society acting 
in conjunction with representatives of the Royal Geograpliical Society, was formed 
some time since for considering the steps that should be taken for organising an 
expedition to the Antarctic regions. 
As you are probably aware, an appeal to H.M. Government to organise such an 
expedition has met with no encouragement, and the Royal Geographical Society has 
consequently taken steps for raising a fund for the purposes of such an expedition 
by private subscription. To this fund the Royal Society hopes to be able to con- 
tribute through the medium of the Government Grant for Scientific Research, and at 
a recent meeting of the Antarctic Committee the following resolutions were passed, 
which we are directed to bring to your notice, and to request you, so far as they 
concern the British Association, to lay them before the Council of that body at the 
earliest opportunity : 
‘(1) That the Treasurer of the Royal Society be requested to apply to the 
Government Grant Committee for a grant of 1,0007. (payable in instalments), 
in aid of an Antarctic Expedition. 
‘(2) That an application be also made to the Council of the British Asso- 
Giation for a graht of 1,000/. for the same purpose.’ 
We remain, very faithfully yours, 
M. Foster, 
ARTHUR W, RUCKER, 
Secretaries, R.S, 
The General Secretary of the British Association. 
After due consideration the Council have resolved to recommend thé 
General Committee to contribute the sum of 1,000/. to the National 
Antarctic Expedition, and that the grant be given out of the accumulated 
funds of the Association, and not out of the sum allocated to annual 
grants. 
The following resolutions, referred to the Council by the General 
Committee for consideration and action if desirable, have been considered 
and acted upon as follows :— 
(1) That having regard to the letter of December 15, 1897, from Sir 
E. Maunde Thompson, the Council be requested to take further action 
with regard to a Bureau of Ethnology, by renewing the correspondence 
with the Trustees of the British Museum. 
_ The following statement, in response to a letter from the President, 
has been received from Sir E. Maunde Thompson :— 
British Museum, December 1, 1898. 
DEAR Si1rR,—In reply to your letter of the 23rd ultimo, with reference to the 
establishment of an Ethnographical Bureau in connection with the British Museum, 
I beg to say that unforeseen delays in carrying out certain rearrangements affecting 
space within our walls have hitherto prevented the Trustees from taking up the 
matter. Now, however, a room has been found which may serve as an office for 
making a start with the scheme. 
