Minutes of Proceedings. 149 



The following Donations were announced, and thanks voted to the 

 Donors : — 



A silver bank token, by Captain William Robinson. 



Seven Papers by Keller "On Inscribed Stones in Switzerland," 

 presented by Mr. George H. Kinahan. 



A jade celt was exhibited by the Rev. Dr. M'llwaine. 



The following Address was adopted : — 



" To His Excellexcy E.iKL Cowper, e.g.. Lord Lieutenant General 

 and General Governor of Lr eland. 



*'May it please toue Excellency, 



""We, the President and Members of the Eoyal Irish 

 Academy, desire to offer to your Excellency our respectful congratu- 

 lations on your arrival in Dublin as the Viceregent of Her Most 

 Gracious Majesty the Queen. 



"The Body which we represent was incorporated by Royal 

 Charter during the last century, for the purpose of promoting the 

 study of Science, Polite Literature, and Antiquities. 



" At our Meetings Memoirs are read, containing original investiga- 

 tions in science, discussions on questions of literature or antiquarian 

 research. Many of these Memoirs are afterwards published, and dis- 

 tributed to other learned Bodies throughout the world, from whom 

 the Academy receives in return reports of their transactions. 



" To the Academy has also been entrusted the important function 

 of administering the Eund for scientific research which is annually 

 allocated for this purpose by the liberality of Parliament. 



" Under our auspices, fac-simile editions of some important Irish 

 MSS. in the possession of the Academy and of Trinity College, 

 Dublin, have been published, with a view of rendering their contents 

 generally accessible to Celtic scholars and comparative philologists. 

 We would invite your Excellency's attention to the extensive 

 Museum of Antiquities which has been brought together by the 

 labours of the Academy. This collection is essentially national, as 

 the great majority of the objects it contains have been discovered on 

 Irish soil, and it is illustrative of the ancient arts and civilization of 

 the country. 



