29 
TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 1858. 
James HentHorn Topp, D.D., President, in the Chair. 
Tue Secretary of the Council read the following Report from the 
Council :— 
REPORT. 
In presenting their Annual Report for the Session of 1857-58, the Council 
regret that they cannot congratulate the Academy on any large publica- 
tion of Transactions during the past year,—in fact, that department of 
our printing has been during that period wholly suspended. The cause 
of this is to be found not in any diminution of intellectual activity on the 
part of our members, but in the state of the finances of the Academy, 
combined with the fact that during the past year we have undertaken, 
and partly completed, the work of forming and publishing a Catalogue 
of our Museum. The very large expense which has attended the pub- 
lication of the Part now in the hands of members has left us no available 
surplus which might be devoted to the publication of ‘‘ Transactions.” 
The whole of this subject has been carefully considered by the Council, 
who are clearly of opinion that a permanent or even lengthened suspen- 
sion of the publication of our Transactions would be fatal to the inte- 
rests of the Academy. 
Tn order, then, to provide for the immediate resumption of this im- 
portant work, the Council have arrived at certain Resolutions, which 
will be laid before you on this evening. Should you agree to the recom- 
mendations contained in those Resolutions, the Council think that the 
publication of our Transactions may be at once resumed, and hope 
that no further interruption will occur in this work, which is un- 
doubtedly the most important function of the Academy. The present 
state of the unpublished portion of our ‘‘ Transactions” is as follows:— 
In Science, we have printed papers by Lieutenant Rennie, Professor 
Downing, Mr. Salmon, and Mr. Forster. 
In Polite Literature, by Dr. Hincks and Dr. Wills. 
In Antiquities, by the President. 
The amount of matter thus printed, but not published, is:—In 
Science, 64 pages; in Polite Literature, 48 pages; in Antiquities, 58 
pages. Total, 160 pages. 
There has been some diminution in the number of papers read before 
the Academy during the past Session, as compared with that of 1856-57. 
Still, we have had some communications of much interest. In Mathe- 
matics, we have had papers from Sir William R. Hamilton, John T. 
Graves, Esq., A. Cayley, Esq., and Rev. Robert Carmichael; in the 
Sciences of Observation and Experiment, from Dr. Lloyd, Dr. Robinson, 
Professor Hennessy, Dr. Kelly, G. J. Stoney, Esq., and M. Donovan, 
Esq. ; in Polite Literature, from J. Huband Smith, Esq., Dr. Hincks, and 
Dr. Ingram ; in Antiquities, from the President and Dr. Reeves. 
R. I, ACAD. PROC.—VOL. VII. F 
