100 PROCEEDINGS OF PROVINCIAL SOCIETIES. 



partment of the vast field of Nature, gave the officers of the insti- 

 tution great advantages ; and of these they availed themselves in 

 the most active and persevering manner, each endeavouring to vie 

 with the rest in promoting the prospects and ensuring the success of 

 the society. The apartments occupied now became much too small 

 for the proper display of the property as well as for the general ac- 

 commodation of the society, and consequently, in 1825, they re- 

 moved to a more convenient building in King-street, where two 

 large and well-lighted rooms contributed much to the good appear- 

 ance of the specimens. The chief deficiency consisted in the want 

 of a conchological collection, and to remedy this an extensive one 

 was purchased from Mr. Swainson, which, however, was almost 

 entirely composed of foreign species. 



No addition of particular importance was now made for some 

 time, but a variety of contributions were received from its friends, 

 both at home and abroad, and numerous minor purchases were 

 made. The birds, from their numbers and splendour, attracted ge- 

 neral attention, and already ranked as one of the first collections in 

 the kingdom ; whilst the minerals, shells, and insects, for that pe- 

 riod, were far from contemptible. 



In 1832 it was evident that the new building was not sufficiently 

 extensive for the reception and display of the specimens accumu- 

 lated, and the propriety of having one erected expressly for the pur- 

 pose was suggested. This proposition was acted upon the follow- 

 ing year, when, a convenient site being selected in Peter-street, the 

 present hall of the Society was commenced. The plot of land se- 

 cured was much larger than the actual building required, to enable 

 future additions to be made ; a precaution highly necessary, from 

 the great demand for warehouses and other buildings in that part 

 of the town. In 1834 the Society received a considerable addition 

 by the purchase of a collection of Crustacea belonging to the late 

 Rev. L. Guilding ; and in April, 1836, the new hall of the Society 

 being completed, the specimens were removed from their old situa- 

 tion to the places they now occupy. 



The department in which this institution most excels is certainly 

 that of Ornithology. The collection of British birds wants but 

 few to make it complete, and the foreign one contains about eigh- 

 teen hundred specimens ; amongst these are many rare and unde- 

 scribed species. Hitherto the birds have only been arranged in ge- 

 neral groups, but on the appointment of Mr. W. C. Williamson, in 

 the autumn of 1835, to the office of curator, a new system of ar- 

 rangement was commenced. The first step was the separation of 

 the British from the foreign birds, which were placed in another 

 room. The former were arranged according to the catalogue re- 

 cently published by Jenyns, and grouped so as to simplify as much 

 as possible the study of Ornithology. All the birds of one genus 

 are brought together and placed upon one group of artificial 

 branches, with the name of the geniis fixed at the root, or point 

 where the branch is fastened to the case. For the next genus a se- 



