604 



year, notwithstanding the charges which may be occasioned by in- 

 creased efficiency in the establishment. 



The property of the Society estimated at the last Anniversary at 

 2563^. 5s. 5d. is now estimated at 2898^. 5s. lOd. 



In the Auditor's Report for 1 833, it was recommended that the 

 Council should, from time to time, make, from the surplus income 

 of the Society, such investments in the Government Funds as would 

 create a capital equal to the amount of sums paid in lieu of annu9,l 

 contributions. 



From that period the Council has steadily acted upon the recom- 

 mendation suggested, and it is gratifying to state, that the Society 

 has now, in funded property, a capital of 1643/., the total amount of 

 compositions received being 3249/. 105. 



A new part volume of Transactions has been published since the 

 last Report, and from the orderly arrangements now made, there is 

 every reason to hope that this very important department of the So- 

 ciety's concerns will be conducted henceforward with a degree of re- 

 gularity and despatch which, in the less prosperous state of the So- 

 ciety, it was not found practicable to ensure. 



The Council has resolved " that the Wollaston Gold Medal and 21/. 

 be assigned to Mr. Richard Qwen for his services to Fossil Zoology 

 in general, and especially for that portion of the description of the 

 Fossil Mammalia (collected by Mr. Charles Darwin in the voyage 

 of H. M. S. Beagle) which has already been published." 



Report of Museum Committee. 



Your Committee, before reporting on the general state of the Mu- 

 seum with reference to the appointment of a new Curator, will first 

 point out what has been principally effected during the past year. A 

 complete suite of all the fossils from the Crag which are in the posses- 

 sion of the Society, has been, for the first time, arranged by Mr. Lons- 

 dale, and they fill ten drawers. All the fossils of the London clay, 

 received from Mr. Stokes and others, have been worked into their 

 proper places, as has been likewise done with those from the chalk. 

 The fossils from the gault and upper green-sand, presented by 

 Dr. Fitton and others, have likewise been arranged. Those of the 

 lower green-sand have been arranged for the first time : the speci- 

 mens from the green-sand of Devonshire occupy eight drawers. 

 Those from the Portland sand and limestone occupy an equal num- 

 ber. Your Committee in stating what has been done during the 

 last year, wish to observe, that the number of drawers, considerable 

 as it is, gives no just idea of the amount of labour bestowed on the 

 collection. Besides the great care and time required to extract some 

 of the fossils from the rock, in all cases where possible, complete 

 suites of the different species, from their earliest to their most ad- 

 vanced stages of growth, have been formed ; the extreme value of 

 which will be at once obvious to every zoologist. On the board on 

 which the specimen is fastened, the locality, name of donor, that 

 of species, and often references to some standard work, are inscribed. 



The remainder of the public collection is much in the same state 



