258 



intended to hold the ordinary meetings of the Academy in the large 

 room above stairs, whilst the smaller room adjoining it will be ap- 

 propriated as a Council-room. The improvements projected by the 

 Commissioners of the Board of Works will, it is hoped, commence 

 in August. 



A portion of the expense of removal has unavoidably fallen 

 upon the Academy. It was necessary to compensate the late occu- 

 pants for gas-fittings and other fixtures, and also to pay the rent of 

 the house for the half-year preceding the date at which the tenure 

 of it by the Government commences. To meet these charges the 

 Academy, at a recent meeting, authorized the payment of 177 18s. 8d. 

 It is hoped, however, that this sum will be more than reimbursed 

 when the Academy's interest in the house in Grafton-street has 

 been disposed of, the value of that interest being now considerably 

 greater than it was when the application was made to Government 

 for a new place of residence. Since that time the landlord under 

 whom the Academy holds was advised to take proceedings in the 

 Court of Chancery to compel the Corporation to insert a new life 

 in the head-lease, on the ground that the person about whose life a 

 doubt existed had been so long missing, that there was a reason- 

 able presumption of the death previous to Easter, 1851. The appli- 

 cation having been granted by the Court, the life of a young person 

 was inserted in the lease; and the Academy's interest in it has thus 

 become so much more valuable that the sale of it is likely to realize 

 a considerable sum. 



The third part of the twenty-second volume of the Transactions 

 of the Academy has been printed off, and its publication is only 

 delayed pending the execution of two etchings illustrating Dr. 

 Kennedy Bailie's paper on the University Anaglyphs. 



The first part of the fifth volume of the Proceedings was pub- 

 lished during the past year. By a rigid adherence to a resolution 

 of the Council, respecting the abstracts of communications made to 

 the Academy, the Editor has been enabled regularly to furnish the 

 members with a printed report of the proceedings of each meeting 

 within a few days after its occurrence. The working of this sys- 

 tem will, no doubt, be much facilitated when its nature and ob- 

 jects are better understood. Any member applying for leave to 



