414 



same time, they give an opportunity to those who are best qualified, 

 of discussing and investigating their claims to antiquity ; and thus, 

 in the end, the value of these curious relics is greatly enhanced, by 

 the light that is thus thrown on their history, and the additional 

 evidence that is collected in confirmation of their genuineness. 



The sum expended on additions to the Library during the past 

 year has necessarily been very small. The funds of the Academy 

 are so nearly absorbed in the unavoidable expenses of the House 

 and OflRcers, and in the publication of our Transactions and Pro- 

 ceedings, that the expenses of binding, together with the annual 

 subscription to periodical publications, generally exhaust almost all 

 that can be spared for the support of the Library. 



The Library, however, has received several valuable donations 

 during the past year, which have been acknowledged from time to 

 time in the Proceedings. 



We have also added the following to the list of Societies with 

 whom we are to exchange Transactions : 



1. The Society of Zurich. 



2. The Society of Agriculture, Lyons. 



3. Academia della Crusca of Florence. 



4. Societe des Sciences Naturelles du Canton de Vaud. 



5. The Imperial Observatory, Pulkova. 



6. L'Institut Royal des Pays Bas, Amsterdam. 



7. The Library of the Museum of Economic Geology, London. 



No changes have been made during the past year in the by- 

 laws or rules for the management of the affairs of the Academy, 

 except in the mode of electing Honorary Members. It was found 

 that some inconvenience was experienced from the vagueness of the 

 former rules, and that a somewhat too great facility was given by 

 them for the admission of Honorary Members ; and, as this tended 

 to the injury of the Academy, by diminishing the value of that dis- 

 tinction, the Council submitted to the Academy the regulations 

 which received your approbation on the 11th of January last, and 

 which will be found in the Proceedings under that date. The prin- 

 ciple of these new regulations, which, it is hoped, will prove satis- 

 factory in practice, is twofold ; first, to limit the number of Honorary 



