578 president's address. 



General Davies', and possibly some others] ; and acquisitions of sj^eeimens Irom 

 Brazil, India, North Africa, Australia, and elsewhere, possibly some of them 

 donations, but the records of them are indefinite. As mentioned later, some 

 specimens were left with W. S. Maeleay to enable him to continue his work on 

 them. These were afterwards brought to Australia by him in 1839. 



With the removal of the Maeleay Collection to Australia, the most important 

 private entomological collections in England seem to have been the Rev. F. W. 

 Hope's, Tvirby's, Stephen's, Haworth's, Westwood's, and Melley's. 



Kirby and Spence, authors of the well-known ''Introduction to Entomology," 

 thus express their appreciation of the Maeleay Collection and of the owner's en- 

 couragement: "To Alexander MacLeay, Esq., they are under particular obliga- 

 tions for the* warm interest he has all along taken in the work, the judicious adv^ice 

 he has on many occasions given, the free access in which he has indulged the 

 authors to his unrivalled cabinet and well-stored library, and the numerous other 

 attentions and accommodations by which he has materially assisted them in its 

 progress" [first ed., p. xxi., 1815] . 



Alexander Macleay's ofiicial connection with the Linnean Society must have 

 stimulated and -widened his interest in Natural History, and, at the same time, 

 have brought him into personal contact with many of the eminent men of the 

 day. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1809, when Sir Joseph 

 Banks was President; and to the Council in 1824, when Sir Humphry Davy was 

 President. Sir Stamford Raffles, first President of the Zoological Society, was 

 also a member of the Council at this time. Macleay's friends of whom we have 

 records, besides the entomologists Kirby and Marsham, included Robert Brown, 

 and Sir James E. Smith, Founder and President of the Linnean Society. 



Robert Brown (1773-1858) had collected zoological specimens, including in- 

 sects, as well as botanical material, during his visit to Australia and Tasmania. 

 We may be sure, therefore, that before accepting the offer of an appointment in 

 Australia, A. Maeleay had discussed the prospects with the great botanist. The 

 fact that he brought his collection with him seems to show" that the fauna was one 

 of the attractions to migrate. The records of their friendship are meagre, but in- 

 dicative of warm regard. R. Brown named the new genus, Macleai/a, in honour 

 of hLs much valued friend, in 1826. Our Society is fortunate in having in the 

 library four reprints of papers by Robert Brown, with inscriptions to Alex. 

 McLeay, Esq., from his "affectionate friend" or from his "attached friend." 



A pleasing record of Alexander Macleay's friendship with Sir .James E. 

 Smith is given in the Proceeding's of the Linnean Society. 1872-73, p. i. At the 

 meeting of the Society held on November 7th, 1872. Mr. G. Beutham, President, 

 in the chair — ''The President read two letters, in her own hand, from Lady 

 Smith (now in her 100th year), offering for the acceptance of the Society, seventy- 

 four letters, addressed to its Founder by the late Alexander M'Leay, Esq., Secre- 

 tary to the Society from 1798-1825. The letters were accompanied by a photo- 

 graph from the portrait of Lady Smith, taken by Opie in 1798, signed, and bear- 

 ing the date of her birth. May 11, 1793. Resolved, that tlie Special Thanks of the 

 Society l)e presented to Lady Smitli for this very valnahle and acceptable dona- 

 tion."' The number of the letters is perhaps to be accounted for by the fact, that 

 Sir .Tames Smith's home was in Norwich, tho\igh for some time he occupied a 

 house in London. 



After the death of W. S. Maeleay, in J.nnuaiT. 18()5. his brother, (Jeorge 

 Maeleay, inherited the family heirlooms. At a meeting of the Linnean Societv, on 



