Ill 



our transactions ; by means of these essays* 

 various important and interesting subjects, com- 

 bined frequently with much original informa- 

 tion, have been brought before the Society, in a 

 digested and popular form. Whether it be 

 equally desirable to encourage the discussions, 

 which usually follow the reading of the evening's 

 paper, may possibly admit of some doubt ; my 

 own opinion is decidedly favourable to a well- 

 regulated discussion ; and indeed I may refer to 

 the past and present state of several of the metro- 

 politan Chartered Societies, in proof of the neces- 

 sity of having some kind of oral communication 

 among the members* to keep up the interest of 

 such societies as ours. 



The Royal Society j founded in 1663, with the 

 comprehensive object of " promoting natural 

 " knowledge," and the Society of Antiquaries 

 of London, founded in 1751, monopolized, for 

 many years, the whole field of science and the 

 lore of " the olden time;'* but a kind of apathy 

 having come over them, new associations of lite- 

 rary and scientific men were formed, for the culti- 

 vation of separate and distinct branches of know- 

 ledge. Thus, in 1788, a few zealous individuals, 

 conceiving that the study of Botany did not obtain 

 from the Royal Society that attention which its 

 utility and importance were thought to demand, 

 founded the Linnaean Society, which was incor- 



