ZOOLOGY, 



PROPOSITION FOE THE ESTABLISHMENT OP 



A SOCIETY FOR THE REPUBLICATION OF RARE TRACTS 



AND PAMPHLETS ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



By JOHN A.. HARVIE BROWN. 



IN the Scottish Naturalist for July, 1873, I endeavoured to 

 draw the attention of its readers to a proposal to form a 

 British Naturalists' Agency ; and a certain number of copies of 

 my paper on this subject were thrown off in a separate form, 

 and forwarded to Secretaries of various Natural History Societies, 

 and to other naturalists, soliciting their approval and support ; 

 and from a number of these replies favourable to the scheme 

 were received.* 



*It may not be out of place here to refer to the correspondence that has 

 passed through our hands with regard to the proposal of an agency. 



Mr W. S. Kirby proposes that the agency if established should also 

 undertake the sale and barter of specimens of Natural History which are 

 properly authenticated and identified. Though outside the duties originally 

 proposed for a British agency, still such might quite well in time be in- 

 corporated with it. It may be mentioned that in America there is a book 

 published giving the addresses of every naturalist, dealer, &c, in America, 

 classified under the heads of conchology, botany, &c, besides a mass of 

 other information useful to naturalists. "Such a publication would be useful 

 in this country, yet I am not aware that any such exists. The trade would 

 I believe readily support the publication of such a work. 



A publisher and bookseller of twenty years standing fully endorses the 

 remarks printed in the Naturalist ', and says — "Not so much for publishing 

 new works, which would perhaps be looked upon with a jealous eye by 

 some portion of publishers, but to assist them (publishers and authors) in 

 distributing their works through the different learned societies and libraries 

 of the whole world ; the reprinting of such works as are ' out of print, ' and 



the copyright of which is out 1 think an agency like this 



could be carried on at a very slight expense, which might be raised, in the 

 first instance by an entrance fee, and afterwards by a small yearly subscrip- 

 tion." 



A secretary of two influential societies in Edinburgh (Dr. J. A. Smith) 



