xiv FIVE YEARS' RETROSPECT 



which had been Darwin's was found and presented to the house by Mr. 

 Bernard Darwin, together with a letter from Alphonse de Candolle on his 

 experiments. These are exhibited, but some of the seeds were with- 

 drawn and tested for germination at Kew Gardens, and a few seeds of 

 Trifolium germinated after a period of not less than fifty-three years and 

 probably longer. 



Sir Buckston Browne settled a generous endowment upon the house, 

 and the Pilgrim Trust made a grant of £150 per annum for five years, 

 with a promise of review after the final payment, which will be made in 

 1937. The Association, out of its general funds, had expended upon 

 requirements incidental to the acquisition of the property, restoration, and 

 subsequent maintenance, the sum of £3,751 down to the close of the 

 financial year 1934-1935. It was decided in 1934 that any subsequent 

 balance on the side of receipts should be placed in a suspense or main- 

 tenance fund for the house : at present no such fund exists, and the House 

 Committee in 1935 expressed the hope ' that all those friends of Down 

 House who may be in a position to aid in the maintenance of this unique 

 charge will not fail to do so.' 



V. Finance. 



During the period under review the financial position of the Association, 

 has been in a measure strengthened, though not yet sufficiently to assure 

 the future in respect of its work and commitments. 



On the side of accretion of its resources there have to be recorded : 



(1) The receipt of a legacy of £2,000, without conditions, under the 

 will of the Hon. Sir Charles Parsons, K.C.B., F.R.S., ex-President and, 

 during his lifetime, a generous benefactor of the Association. 



(2) The receipt of a legacy of £500, without conditions, under the will 

 of Sir Alfred Ewing, K.C.B., F.R.S., ex-President. 



(3) The receipt of a legacy of £1,000 under the will of Mr. Bernard 

 Hobson, to form a fund bearing his name, from which the income is 

 applicable to the promotion of definite geological research. 



(4) A gift of £1,000 from the local committee for the Leicester Meeting, 

 1933, being the unexpended balance of the local fund raised in connection 

 with that meeting. The income is applied to the assistance of a student 

 or students working for the advancement of science with preference 

 where possible in favour of a Leicester or Leicestershire worker, or other- 

 wise by way of grants to appropriate research committees. This gift is 

 named the Leicester and Leicestershire Fund, and in accepting it the 

 Council recorded ' their appreciation of the action of the Leicester Com- 

 mittee in thus confirming, in a manner without precedent in the history 

 of the Association, their interest in the advancement of science.' 



On the other hand, the Centenary Fund, raised in 1930-1931, failed, in 

 spite of the generosity of over 500 subscribers, wholly to cover the extra- 

 ordinary expenses of the Centenary Meeting, whereas it had been hoped 

 that it would both do that and provide at least the nucleus of an endow- 

 ment fund for the future. The reason for this ill-success was obvious : 

 the general financial conditions which supervened about that time made 

 it ' clearly inopportune,' as the General Treasurer's report showed, ' to 



