REPORT OF THE COUNCIL, 1931-32 xxi 



* Capital ' Expenditure, 1929-32. 



Compensation to outgoing tenant 

 Redemption of Tithe ..... 

 Purchase of Land ..... 

 Renovation of house, cottages, walls, fencing, etc. 

 Renovation of grounds (gravelling, grass, etc.) 

 House equipment ..... 

 Garden equipment ..... 

 Legal charges (rating appeals, valuations, etc.) 

 Transport of library ..... 

 Opening Ceremony (June 7, 1929) 

 Cost of Catalogues in stock, June 30, 1932 



£3.236 5 8 

 Note. — The cost of catalogues will, in course of time, be covered by sales. 



The above phrase ' capital expenditure ' is used, for want of a better, to 

 cover charges which have fallen upon the Association apart from ordinary 

 running costs. They include numerous items of restoration, renovation, 

 and equipment, legal charges, etc., as the Council are already aware. The 

 figure does not include the second mortgage of £700 granted to the outgoing 

 tenant in 1929, which is classified as an asset, not with the Down House 

 Fund, but among the general funds of the Association. 



Those works of restoration, etc., which have been, so to say, visible 

 liabilities since the acquisition of the property, have been materially ex- 

 pedited during the Secretary's leave of absence from office duties during the 

 current year. They, and their cost, would otherwise have been spread 

 over a longer period. So far as the Secretary is able to judge, they are now 

 within sight of completion. Any subsequent items of restoration and 

 renovation ought, on this view, to fall under the heading of ordinary wear 

 and tear. 



Importation of Scientific Specimens and Apparatus. 



IX. — As the result of a report by the Association of British Zoologists, 

 the Council, in February 1931, appointed a committee to consider action 

 with a view to the amelioration of the Customs Regulations affecting the 

 importation of scientific specimens and apparatus. Following upon 

 discussion between officers of the Association and the Custom House 

 authorities, the latter have most kindly supplied the Association with a 

 memorandum on the reliefs from Customs duties on scientific instruments 

 and cinematograph films, and from the import prohibitions on plumage 

 likely to be of use to scientific workers, together with a note on procedure 

 in respect of the importation of scientific specimens preserved in spirit. 



The memorandum on scientific instruments and cinematograph films 

 was supplied confidentially to enable the Association to advise bona fide 

 scientific workers, but not for general publication, since some of the 

 relaxations are extra-statutory and liable to modification or withdrawal as 

 the interests of the Revenue may demand. 



The note on the importation of scientific specimens in spirit is appended 

 hereto. 



b2 



