JOURNAL 



OF THE 



ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 



APRIL 1901. 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 



II. — The President's Address. 

 By William Carruthers, F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S. 



{Delivered January lfith, 1901.) 



Some months ago I bad occasion to consult the works of John Ellis 

 in connection with an inquiry regarding some of our British sea- 

 weeds. I was so much impressed with the story of his investigations, 

 the care with which he prosecuted them, the instruments which he 

 used, and the simple and clear style of his writing, that at the time 

 it seemed to me that some account of him and his work might be an 

 entertaining and instructive subject for the Annual Address expected 

 from the chair at the January meeting. I have since made further 

 investigations regarding John Ellis — " Coralline Ellis " as he was 

 familiarly called in reference to his most important work ; and I 

 venture to hope that his story may secure your attention while 

 I attempt to tell it. 



Ellis was a native of Ireland, probably of Dublin, where his sister 

 continued to live after he was settled in London. The day and year 

 of his birth are unknown, but he was considered to be sixty-six years 

 of age when he died in 1776. He was probably born in 1710. At 

 what time he came to London is likewise unknown. He was, when 

 he began in 1756 to correspond with Linnaeus, sufficiently known 

 that he asked him to address his reply to " Mr. John Ellis, merchant, 

 in London." There is no reason for supposing that he was not a 

 prosperous merchant. He nevertheless found time to prosecute his 

 studies in Natural History. In 1751 he received a collection of sea- 

 weeds and zoophytes from Anglesey, and another from his sister in 

 Dublin. He spread them out in fresh water and mounted them on 

 thin boards covered with white paper so as to form a kind of land- 

 scape, using the larger fronds of TJlva marina to represent hills, 

 dales, and rocks, and arranging the smaller sea-weeds and zoophytes 

 as little trees. 



April 17 th, 1901 I 



