274 The Ottawa Naturalist. [February 



His was a well-spent life, unselfish in all its aims and pur- 

 pose, unsparin^j in his efforts to advance the interests ot his fellow 

 citizens and of humanity in general, exercising withal a power and 

 influence for the moral good and welfare of all in a high degree. 

 Of ;him it might be truly said what Socrates once said of a well- 

 spent life, " For noble is the prize and the hope is great." 



And to those of us who have had the privilege to listen to his 

 marvellous flow of language, his lucid descriptive power, as well 

 as those of us who have sat under him, may it be said that we 

 have caught something of the fire and earnestness of his life and 

 spirit which helped to complete his noble life. And when we see 

 the many results achieved during this useful life, to those who ask, 

 we say, " Si qucsris monumenttini, circumspice. " 



THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Another point which such a Club as ours is in duty bound 

 to notice, is the erection in our midst of a National Museum, As 

 a citizen of Ottawa, the Capital of our great Dominion, if not 

 as an officer or simple member of this Club, I desire this evening 

 to unite our voices and sentiments with those expressed at the 

 opening meeting of the Canadian Institute. 



Mr. Byron E. Walker, F.G.S., President of that Institute, 

 and Manager of the Bank of Commerce, condemned in very strong 

 terms the inadequate outlay upon the Geological Survey of this 

 country, and the condition of the Museum. "We will stand dis- 

 graced," he said, " until we bestir ourselves, and show that we 



possess intelligence in this matter At least $250,000 should 



be appropriated annually by the Dominion for our Geological and 

 Natural History Survey, whilst each of the Provinces should in 

 addition grant $10,000 for the same purpose. The Dominion 

 Government at Ottawa and each of the Provincial Legislatures 

 should have museums belonging to the people. The housing of 

 the present collection at Ottawa in an unsafe building is a crime." 



Apart from what you may consider professional reasons in 

 making such a statement regarding the Museum, as a Canadian, 

 as Qw^ who has at heart the development of our vast mineral as 

 well as forestry and fishery resources — which represent Canada's 

 best and most valuable commercial asset, our need of a National 

 Museum, of a fireproof building, sufficiently large to house pro- 



