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The Council on the 10th of December last, received from the late 

 Dr. Wollaston, a communication to the following effect : 



« Dorset Street, December 8, 1828. 



" I have this day invested one thousand pounds three per cent, 

 reduced Bank annuities in the joint names of myself and the Geo- 

 logical Society of London, in trust, that the said trustees shall, 

 during my life, pay to me the dividends on the said stock; and after 

 my decease, that the said Society, as surviving trustee, shall apply 

 the said dividends in promoting researches concerning the mineral 

 structure of the earth ; or in rewarding those by whom such re- 

 searches may hereafter be made, or in such other manner as shall 

 appear to the Council of the said Society for the time being, con- 

 ducive to the interests of the Society in particular, or of the science 

 of Geology in general ; such latter application however, of the 

 dividends to the purposes of science will, in my opinion, be most 

 creditable to the Council. 



" And I hereby empower the Council of the said Society, in 

 furtherance of the above declared objects of this trust, to apply the 

 said dividends in aiding or rewarding the researches of any indivi- 

 dual or individuals, of any country; saving only that no member of 

 the Council for the time being shall be entitled to receive or par- 

 take of such aid or reward. 



" And 1 hereby enjoin the said Society not to hoard the said 

 dividends parsimoniously; but to expend them liberally, and as 

 nearly as may be annually, in furthering the objects of the trust. 



" And I request the Society to entitle the fund hereby to be 

 created, ' The Donation Fund;' in full confidence, that as there 

 never have been wanting in the Society members who, in cases of 

 emergency, have been willing to contribute in aid of the ordinary 

 funds of the Society ; so there now are, and hereafter will be 

 members who will make additional contributions to this ' Donation 

 Fund.' 



(Signed) " W. H. Wollaston." 



" Witness, Henry Warburton. 



Whereupon it was resolved, — 



" That the Council, on behalf of the Geological Society, do accept 

 the trust, on the conditions mentioned in the communication of Dr. 

 Wollaston, with gratitude and respect; and they beg to assure him, 

 that however important this accession to their funds may be, both 

 in itself, and in the effect which they are convinced it will have in 

 obtaining similar contributions from other Fellows; hey attach still 

 greater importance to it from the testimony which it conveys of his 

 approbation, and of the interest which he takes in their pursuits." 



The deeply lamented death of Dr. Wollaston since the date of 

 the preceding document, having placed the property above men- 

 tioned entirely at the disposal of the Society, it will be the business 

 of the Council for the ensuing year, to make such arrangements as 

 shall be thought expedient, in order to carry his wishes, in the 

 establishment of this " Donation Fund," into effect. 



