REPORT OF COUNCIL. 3 



times to subscribe towards any object having the advancement of the 

 Natural History of Ireland in view. 



" Towards the middle of the last Session your Council received a 

 communication from the Committee of Science of the Eoyal Irish Aca- 

 demy to the effect that the Committee were anxious to devise some plan 

 for the amalgamation under one head of all the scientific societies of 

 Dublin. Your Council, in compliance with a request contained in the 

 communication from the Committee, appointed their two Honorary 

 Secretaries as delegates to attend a meeting specially convened for this 

 purpose. The meeting was held at the Eoyal Irish Academy House on 

 the 22nd of April, 1869, and at it a series of Eesolutions, eleven in 

 number, were drafted out and printed, in order that they might be 

 submitted to the various societies for their consideration. These Eeso- 

 lutions were laid by the delegates before your Council on the 3rd of 

 May, 1869, and a Eesolution was passed to the effect that the Council 

 recommend to the Society the acceptance of the proposals contained in 

 the draft suggestions adopted at the meeting of the 22nd April. This 

 Eesolution of the Council and the draft suggestions were, by order of 

 the Council, sent to all the members of the Society, and were also laid 

 before the members at the ordinary monthly meeting on the 5th May. 

 At this meeting it was resolved that the Society consider it for the 

 present inexpedient to merge the existence of the Society in a biological 

 section of the Academy. A Eesolution was also passed at this meeting 

 to the effect that the minute-book of the Council, containing the minutes 

 of the Council meeting of the 3rd of May, be produced, and this although 

 the Honorary Secretaries declared that the minutes in question had not 

 as yet been written up, nor were they, until confirmed at the subsequent 

 meeting, to be regarded as the authorized minutes of the Council meeting 

 of the 3rd of May. In consequence of the passing of this Eesolution, 

 the Honorary Secretaries tendered their resignation of office, which was 

 accepted, but at the request of the Council they consented to continue 

 their services until the election of their successors in the following 

 November. 



" Your Council would also call attention to the fact that, by a Eeso- 

 lution of the Society, the night of meeting has been changed from the 

 first Friday to the first Wednesday in the month. 



" Having now mentioned the chief events of the past Session, or at 

 least those seeming to call for special mention, it remains for your 

 Council to surrender their trust into the hands of their successors. They 

 would call their attention to the fact that they hand over to them a 

 reserve fund in Consols equal to all the composition fees of all their 

 Life Members, and of all the entrance fees paid within the last four 

 years ; they leave them a balance-sheet showing no debts due, but a sum 

 of money to the credit side, beyond the amount to be paid for the two 

 forthcoming Parts of the ' Journal,' and a Library consisting of some 

 hundreds of volumes and parts of volumes, obtained by the exchange of 

 the Journal of the Society, and costing the Society nothing but the 

 expense of their carriage. With their term of office they complete the 



