PROCEEDINGS. 373 



illustrations), written by Captain F. Wall, I.M.S., would shortly commence 

 in the Journal, and the plates were now being prepared at home. They 

 also had in view a series on the " Common Butterflies of India, " by which 

 the butterflies of the plains were referred to. This series would also have 

 coloured illustrations, and, as Mr. E. H. Aitken had kindly promised to write 

 some of the letter-press, it would be certain to be interesting and as attractive 

 as all his„writings are. 



PAPERS READ. 



The following papers were then read : — 1. " The Food and poison of Centi- 

 pedes," by W. D. Cumming. 2. " Notes on the nidification of the Indian 

 Rain Quail," by R. H. Heath. 3. " Curious accident to the Common Swift, 

 by M. D. Mackenzie. 4. On the Collections in the Society's Museum, by 

 E. Comber. 



Mr. Comber said the purposes for which museums are established, may 

 be divided into two heads, viz., the diffusion of instruction and amusement 

 among the mass of the people and to afford the opportunity for scientific research, 

 under which latter head the Society's museum of course falls. He then point- 

 ed out the danger of museums and the collections they contain being allowed 

 to deteriorate into the condition of a mere accumulation of rubbish, unless they 

 are properly taken care of, arranged, and catalogued. In laying stress upon these 

 points he mainly relied upon quotations from the words of the late Sir William 

 Flower who was for many years in charge of the British Museum (Natural 

 History), and who had a larger experience of the management and arrangement 

 of museums than any one else in the whole world. Mr. Comber pointed 

 out that .the very life of a museum depended on its Curator, which in 

 the case of a Society such as this was a work that had to be divided 

 amongst a number of its members, since the Society was not in a 

 position to employ a properly qualified and salaried official. More than 

 half of its funds were expended on the publication of its Journal, through 

 which alcne it was possible to bring the work of the Society before its 

 members, scattered as they are over nearly the whole world. He then 

 referred to the already vast amount of work that fell upon the Honorary 

 Secretaries, and appealed to members, resident in Bombay, to come forward and 

 give a helping hand to the Society's museum by taking some department under 

 their special charge, as has been the system in years past. Through one circum- 

 stance or another the Society has lately lost, or is losing, the assistance of 

 several of its most enthusiastic resident members, such as Mr. E. H. Aitken and 

 Mr. R. C. Wroughton, and unless others — even if less experienced— will come 

 forward, the work of the Society must inevitably suffer. The Society has up to 

 now not succeeded in filling the vacancies caused by the departure of Captain 

 A. J. Peile, R.A., and Staff Surgeon Bassett-Smith, R. N., who so ably controlled 

 the departments under their care. Mr. Comber then briefly reviewed the 

 collections in the museum, pointing out where they were weak and required a 

 helping hand to bring them into order, so that they may be of the greatest use 



