COUNCIL roll 1846. 
13 
has EVER received^ has been the munificent donation by Mr. 
William Rudston Read, of his extensive Collection of British 
Birds, on the formation of which he has during several years 
spared neither pains nor cost. The only condition annexed to 
this liberal gift was, that it should be kept separate from the 
general ornithological collection of the Society, and distin¬ 
guished as The Rudston Collection of British Birdsbut 
the Council felt it no less an imperative duty, than a gratification 
to their own feelings, to recommend to the general monthly 
meeting at which the donation was announced, the election of 
Mr. Read as a Life Member of the Society. The Council 
propose, as soon as the necessary arrangements can be effected, 
to place the Rudston Collection” in one of the upper rooms 
of the Museum, at present occupied by a part of the Collection 
of Antiquities about to be removed to the Hospitium. It will 
thus be kept conspicuously distinct, and will permit the more 
effectual and instructive display of the general collection of Birds 
in the centre room of the Museum. 
These alterations in the arrangement of the Ornithological 
and Antiquarian Departments will necessarily entail a consider¬ 
able expenditure, beyond what the annual income of the Society 
can fairly be expected to bear. The Council therefore have 
recently appealed to the liberality of the Members to assist in 
carrying these arrangements into effect. Several of the Members 
have already responded to this appeal, and the Subscription at 
present amounts to about £110, which the Council hope will 
still be increased. 
The chief addition to the Botanical department has been the 
purchase of a Herbarium of Pyrenaean Plants, collected by Mr. 
Spruce, formerly of this city. The Curator of Botany delivered 
during the summer a course of Botanical demonstrations, to 
which the Members of the Society and their families were gra¬ 
tuitously admitted. 
The Library has continued to receive the publications of 
learned Societies at home and abroad; in other respects the 
donations have not been numerous or important. But the 
Society has had the good fortune to obtain by purchase, at a 
