! 1 1 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 



cer will be always received with due attention and respect by the Com- 

 mittee, but it is manifest, that without their being referred to it, the 

 Committee cannot be responsible for the expenditure which the Cura- 

 tor's measures and correspondence may entail, for the views on which 

 he may act in the management of the Museum, nor for the light in 

 which this department of the Society's labours may be regarded by 

 scientific men and institutions in other countries.* 



It seems necessary too to stipulate that all memoirs or papers drawn 

 up by the Curator for publication, as well as plates, models, &c. on sub- 

 jects he may have investigated in discharge of his duties, should be in 

 the first instance placed at the disposal of the Committee of Papers, 

 also that all proofs of such papers pass through the inspection of the 

 same body. The Committee are led to this suggestion by the circum- 

 stance of a fly-leaf having been prefixed without their sanction or 

 knowledge to the last Volume of the Transactions. Although containing 

 nothing from which the Committee would dissent, the precedent is one 

 which they are desirous of avoiding, as it obviously may lead to many 

 objectionable results. 



The Committee deem it highly desirable to secure, if possible, Dr. 

 M'Clelland's valuable services on the terms they have now set forth. 

 His acquirements in the various departments of Natural History, his 

 zeal for the promotion of Science, and the liberality and disinterested- 

 ness he has evinced in his past connexion with the Museum, entitle 

 him to be preferred to most competitors for this appointment. The 

 Committee have endeavoured in this Report however to discuss without 

 bias towards any individual, the stipulations for tenure of office which 

 they deem most conducive to the interests of the Society and of Science, 

 and most likely to receive the approbation of the Government, through 

 whose liberal grant the occasion of this discussion has arisen. 



In the event however of Dr. M'Clelland's declining to accept the 

 situation on the terms now proposed, the Committee recommend that 

 candidates be invited to present themselves, that the testimonials of 

 such candidates be examined and reported on by the Committee of 

 Papers, and finally considered at a General Meeting. That the indivi- 

 dual selected be appointed for 12 months, and his permanent appoint- 

 ment be made dependent on the ability and industry, evinced during the 

 probationary period. 



* This paragraph is only calculated to mislead those who do not think, or who 

 do not know the Society. In the first place the Society is not, and never has been, 

 in the habit of making exchanges of objects from the Museum ; in the second place 

 the Curator can enter into no engagements in the name of the Society or the Com- 

 mittee of Papers, so that neither of these bodies can be held responsible for his 

 acts; in the third place, there is no correspondence connected with the office, and never 

 has been ; and, lastly, it would be the height of absurdity to suppose that scientific 

 men and scientific institutions would or could for a moment hold any or all the 

 members of the Committee of Papers responsible for the scientific part of the 

 Curator's duties. — Ed. 



