Carter Bequest.—It will be remembered that, at the annual meeting held on May 27th, 1937, the Council after duly considering the “Report of the Technical Sub-committee set up to Consider and Report on a Suitable Scheme for Equipping the Carter Observatory; and Probable Cost of Same,” instructed the Standing Committee to tranfer the accumulated funds belonging to the Cartel Trust to the proposed Statutory Board of Trustees as soon as it was satisfied that the sum necessary for the service and upkeep of the proposed Carter Observatory, viz., £1000 per annum, was definitely assured; and expressed the opinion that the sums to be contributed annually by the Government, and the Wellington City Council, respectively, ought not to be subject to annual vote, but should be made statutory under the Empowering Act. Subsequently the Carter Observatory Act of September 14th, 1938, completely discharged “the trusts declared in the will of the said Charles Rooking Carter” and vested “the moneys comprised in the …. bequest of the said Charles Rooking Carter, together with the accumulated income thereof, the securities in which any such moneys are invested, and all rights of the Royal Society of New Zealand in relation thereto” in the Carter Observatory Board “for the exercise of the Board's functions.” The standing Committee therefore instructed the Managers of the Society's trust accounts to take whatever steps were necessary to transfer all moneys and securities belonging to the Carter Bequest to the Carter Observatory Board as soon as that Board was duly constituted and the names of its members gazetted. The constitution of the said Board was duly announced on January 19th, 1939, and all the moneys previously held in trust by the Royal Society of New Zealand were then transferred to the officers of the Board, and the seal of the Royal Society was affixed to the transfer documents. The Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand, as collective trustee for the Carter Bequest from 1896 to 1939, has at times been subjected to much adverse criticism for its determination that the moneys involved should not be used until there was a definite prospect of their being used to advantage; though most of that criticism appears to have been due to a want of appreciation of the facts. It is, perhaps, as well to place on record in our “Transactions” that, after the relevant facts had been put before the Conference called to consider the best use to be made of the accumulated funds, it was unanimously resolved that “a vote of appreciation and thanks be made to the Royal Society for the way in which they have looked after the funds.” The Royal Society of New Zealand has now no liability whatever in the Carter Bequest; and it only remains for us to express the wish that the Observatory soon to be erected and equipped may, under the guidance of its. young and able Director, prove of value not only to the Dominion of New Zealand, but also to the whole world of science.