PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 63 



that the fat in the hone of a Basses head is his braines, which is 

 a lye." 



To this period belongs, also, Lawson, the author of a " History 

 of North Carolina " and " A New Voyage to North Carolina." 

 made in 1700 and the following years, while acting as surveyor 

 general of the colony. Lawson was burnt at the stake in 1709 by 

 the Indians, who resented his encroachments upon their territory. 

 His lists of the animals and plants of the region are very full and 

 his observations accurate. Coues's " Lawsonian period" in the 

 history of American ornithology is hardly justifiable. Law sou 

 belonged to the school of Harriott and the first Clayton. 



Edward Bohun and Job Lord, of Carolina, appear to have 

 been interested in natural history at this time and to have been 

 collecting specimens for Petiver in London, while William Vernon 

 was engaged in similar occupations in Maryland. 



In those early days all Europe was anxious to hear of the 

 wonders of America, and still more eager to see the strange 

 objects which explorers might be able to preserve and bring 

 back with them. Public museums were as yet unknown, but 

 the reigning princes sought eagerly to secure novelties in the 

 shape of animals and plants. 



Columbus was charged by Queen ■ Isabella to collect birds, 

 and it is recorded that he took back to Spain various skins 

 of beasts. Even to this day may be seen, in Siena, hanging 

 over the walls of the old collegiate church, a votive offering, 

 placed there nearly four centuries ago by the discoverer of 

 America, then in the prime of his glory. It consists of the 

 helmet and armor worn by him when he first stepped upon 

 the soil of the New World, and the rostrum of a swordfish 

 killed on the American coast. 



The State papers of Great Britain contain many entries of 

 interest to naturalists. King James I. was an enthusiastic 

 collector. December 15, 1609, Lord Southampton wrote to 



