10 
REPORT, 
With this view, a Committee was appointed at the com¬ 
mencement of 1826 , to examine the accounts, and to estimate 
the probable demands of the ensuing twelvemonth, and the 
means of defraying them which the Society might be cal¬ 
culated to possess. The regulations recommended by the 
Committee were adopted; and the result has been, that the 
expenditure of the year has fallen somewhat within the 
receipts. 
The limitations of purchase, to which it has been necessary 
to adhere, have put to the test the reliance which may be 
placed upon the principle of gratuitous contribution. To 
this principle it was determined to trust altogether, except so 
far as regarded the payment for books already subscribed for ; 
and yet the Council have the pleasure of presenting a long list 
of additions both to the Library and the Museum. By the 
returns of the Curators, it appears that one thousand six 
hundred geological specimens, one hundred and twenty- 
eight minerals, and seventy-nine specimens in natural 
history, have been contributed since February last; the 
number of coins and other objects of antiquarian research has 
amounted to ninety-seven, and no fewer than two hundred 
volumes have been added to the Society’s shelves. 
That, in the fifth year from its institution, the Society 
should have such obligations to acknowledge, is a just subject 
of congratulation; since the support which it enjoys cannot 
now be suspected to be of an accidental or temporary nature. 
