11 REPORT OF THE COUNCIL 



obviously the best solution of the Society's difficulties that it 

 was thought of, and an attempt made to realise it, in the early 

 years of the Museum's history. The present effort is due to 

 the initiative and energy of Mr. N. H. Martin. Its object is to 

 secure an endowment sufficient to provide for the general 

 upkeep of the Museum, and to leave the members' subscrip- 

 tions free for the publication of scientific papers and for 

 meeting the numerous demands for special expenditure which 

 arise every year. It is calculated that a capital sum of _;^2 5,000 

 would yield the necessary income, and that is accordingly the 

 amount asked for. 



The appeal was signed by the President, Lord Joicey, 

 who headed the subscription list with ;^i,ooo. Other donations 

 brought up the total to ;^3,2 24 4s. 6d. on June 30th, and 

 rather more than ^500 has been added subsequently. There 

 was apparently little prospect that the fund would quickly 

 reach the figure originally aimed at, and the outbreak of war 

 has naturally destroyed all expectation of making further pro- 

 gress with it at present. It may be hoped that with the 

 return of more settled conditions it will be possible to revive 

 the effort and bring up the fund to a level more nearly 

 adequate to the needs of the institution. Meanwhile the best 

 thanks of the Council are accorded to the members and others 

 who have already contributed to the fund. A list of the 

 subscriptions will be found on a later page. 



The President's subscription to the fund has been referred 

 to. The Society is indebted to him for financial help in another 

 direction : as the Treasurer's report shows. Lord Joicey very 

 kindly paid off the deficit under which the year opened. The 

 Council have been much gratified also during the year by the 

 readiness with which a number of members have come forward 

 to enable certain special expenditures to be met. In this way it 

 has been possible to complete the dark-room and photographic 

 outfit of the Museum, and to secure an extremely desirable 

 acquisition in the shape of Dr. Eltringham's collection of 

 butterflies. Further details of these will be found in the 

 Curator's report on museum work, and lists of the subscriptions 



