LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. XXXI 



was held at the rooms of the Eoyal Society of the representatives 

 of those bodies. A letter was there read from Mr. Wilson, the 

 Secretary to the Treasury, in reply to that of Lord Wrottesley, 

 but again recognizing only the Societies which are located in 

 Somerset House, and appointing a meeting of their representatives 

 at the Treasury. I must here inform you, that since the eastern 

 detached wing of Burlington House has been occupied by the 

 University, there is only room for three Societies, at the most, in 

 the main building and the western wing. To the surprise of the 

 gentlemen present, Mr. "Wilson assured them that the Govern- 

 ment did not wish to turn them out of Somerset House, where 

 they might still remain if they preferred it. Accordingly the 

 Society of Antiquaries, the Geological, and the Astronomical 

 Societies expressed their desire to remain as they were, and the 

 Eoyal only expressed their readiness to move into the new 

 quarters. I considered it my duty to inform your Council of 

 these circumstances, and as the events were now following each 

 other too rapidly for me to communicate every successive step to 

 them, and receive their sanction, they came to a resolution, — " That 

 it is the opinion of the Council that it is highly desirable to obtain 

 rooms in Burlington House, and that the President be requested 

 to take such steps as may appear to him best calculated to secure 

 that object." I accordingly acted upon this resolution. On 

 receiving immediately afterwards an intimation that the officers of 

 the Eoyal Society had a fresh appointment to meet Mr. Wilson, 

 and wished to know whether the Linnean Society and the Che- 

 mical Society would be ready to accept apartments in Burlington 

 House with the Eoyal, I immediately sought an interview with 

 the President of the Chemical Society, who I found had received 

 a similar carte blanche from his Council to that with which I had 

 been favoured, and we sent in our cordial acquiescence in the 

 proposed union. 



I have now, Gentlemen, merely to record so much of the result 

 of the interview between Lord Wrottesley the President, Col. 

 Sabine the Treasurer, and Dr. Sharpey the Senior Secretary of the 

 Eoyal Society, with Mr. Wilson, as bears upon our prospects. I 

 am not at liberty, as I conceive, to say more than was communi- 

 cated to me in the presence of others ; and this simply amounts to 

 the statement on the part of the officers of the Eoyal Society that 

 the Linnean and Chemical Societies were most willing to accom- 

 pany the Eoyal to Burlington House, and the distinct expression 

 of Mr. Wilson's readiness to accede to this arrangement. I have 

 waited, as you will readily believe, with intense anxiety for a com- 



