IRatuce IRotes : 
Zfoe Selbovne Society’s fll>aga3fne. 
No. 107. NOVEMBER, 1898. Vol. IX. 
SELBORN IANA. 
Financial Position of the Society. — The Council wishes 
to draw attention to the requirements of the fund of the Society 
for general purposes. A few words of explanation may be useful. 
The fund is supported by the contributions from Branches of one- 
tenth of their receipts, and by the subscriptions of members not 
belonging to Branches. There has been a tendency for the latter 
to decrease. This may probably be due to the policy of the 
Society in encouraging the formation of local Branches as the 
most efficient instruments of its work — an excellent and approved 
policy, but having apparently this one unfortunate result. 
Out of the subscriptions of members not belonging to 
Branches the Society pays the cost of the copies of Nature 
Notes supplied to such members. The Branches pay the 
Society for the copies of Nature Notes required for their 
members. 
After the cost of the magazine had been defrayed the income 
of the Society as a whole for all other purposes was in 1897 only 
about ^85. This is not sufficient even for necessary expenses, 
which amounted in 1897 to about £ 106 . There is, also, an 
adverse balance of £ q 2 19s. The first need is to rectify this 
balance and to provide adequately for necessary expenses. This 
is essential. But more is wanted. Though the Society relies 
largely on the power of personal influence and example, it is 
hardly necessary to state that for the prosecution of its work 
generally in many directions, and for useful action in special 
cases, money is a needful instrument. To satisfy these require- 
ments the Council seeks to obtain both a substantial increase in 
the number of members subscribing annually to the general 
fund, and also donations. 
