556 Bristol Museum 



sent station, and to render it, what it has been justly desig- 

 nated, £ a treasure to our city at home, and a credit to it 

 abroad.' 



** Resting its claims on this station, and supported by those 

 of the eminent geologists whose presiding influence was ex- 

 perienced at every step of its commencing progress, and by 

 the importance and interest of its provincial geology and 

 mineralogy, the Institution presented its application for a 

 visit from the British Association, at the Cambridge anni- 

 versary in 1833, and again at Edinburgh, in 1834. This was 

 renewed last year at Dublin, accompanied by invitations from 

 the corporation of the city, and the Society of Merchants ; 

 and, the round of universities having been completed, the 

 Society decided that its anniversary of 1836 should be held 

 in this city. 



" To detail the progress of the museum, or the names of 

 those who have contributed to its treasures, is out of the 

 present scope ; but some remarkable stages may be recorded, 

 in addition to those already noticed. In 1824, Dr. Daubeny 

 presented a series of specimens illustrating the geology of 

 Sicily. The foundation was laid, in the conchological depart- 

 ment, by the donation of the late Dr. Lovell's collection ; 

 and, in the early part of the year, a rich collection, formed 

 by Joseph Blisset, Esq., and pronounced, by competent 

 judges, to be at that time unrivalled by any public museum 

 out of the metropolis, was purchased by a number of members 

 at the low price of five hundred guineas, for which the pro- 

 prietor had offered it, and by them presented to the Institu- 

 tion. The specimens in this collection, and the others pos- 

 sessed by the museum, were, two years afterwards, arranged 

 by Mr. Henry Stutchbury, on Phillips's system, as given in 

 the third edition of his Introduction to Mineralogy. In the 

 same year (1826) a very fine specimen of Ichthyosaurus 

 tenuirostris, the most complete then known, was presented 

 by the joint contributions of individual members ; and by 

 subsequent additions, of actual specimens, or of well-executed 

 casts (two of the latter presented by the Right Honourable 

 Viscount Cole), a beautiful and interesting suite of this re- 

 markable class of extinct animals is now possessed by the 

 Institution. In 1830, Mr. Cottle presented the whole of his 

 large collection of animal remains from the Oreston Caves, 

 near Plymouth ; and in the following year, by liberal contri- 

 butions from various individuals, aided by the proceeds of 

 Dr. Riley's lectures on zoology, and Dr. Carpenter's lectures 

 on astronomy, the late curator's collection of fossils, shells, 



