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The Secretary presented the annual report of the Council as 

 follows : 



The Mansion 



During the year many improvements have been made in the 

 Mansion, particularly to that portion assigned to the Society. 

 The large room on the south side of the main hall on the first 

 floor has been converted into a commodious lecture hall, ac- 

 commodating about one hundred persons. It has been placed 

 at the disposal of the Society by the New York Botanical 

 Garden, to be used whenever required, when not needed for 

 Garden purposes. It has been fitted up both for ordinary 

 lectures and entertainments and for lectures in which lantern- 

 slides or moving pictures are used. This hall, in connection 

 with the board room, can be thrown open for receptions or 

 meetings, and the two halls together can accommodate from 

 two hundred to three hundred persons. 



It is the purpose of the Society to hold several receptions or 

 garden parties during the spring and early summer months 

 with the idea of bringing our members together to establish a 

 closer acquaintance, and thereby add to the future usefulness 

 of the Society. 



The pictures, photographs, statuary, etc., formerly in the 

 south room, have been removed to the north room. The 

 cases containing our collections have been placed as follows : 

 two cases to the north room on the first floor, two cases to the 

 west room on the second floor, and the Joseph Rodman Drake 

 case, our most valuable asset, has been placed in the large 

 picture gallery on the second floor. The halls and galleries 

 have been repainted and beautifully decorated by the New 

 York Botanical Garden, under the direction of Dr. N. L. 

 Britton, Chairman of our Museum Committee, and all without 

 any expense to the Society. With the improvements now 

 going on, it is believed that the Mansion and its surrounding-: 

 will be one of the principal show places of The Bronx. 



