228 Annual Meeting of the 



ceeking information from its stores. I allude to the Rerharium^ 

 respecting which I have received an interesting account from the 

 Rev. A. F. Kemp, than whom there is no one amongst us better 

 qualified to judge of its value, or describe its contents. 



Some account of the Herbarium of the Natural History Society 

 of Montreal. 



" A Committee has been appointed to put this valuable Herba- 

 rium into such order as to render it henceforth more useful for 

 the promotion of botanical research. Some progress has already- 

 been made in the work. It has been put into the hands of a gen- 

 tleman well acquainted with the method adopted by the Botanical 

 Society of Edinburgh in the preparation and arrangement of spe- 

 cimens. Less is known about the collection of dried plants, and 

 less attention has been directed to it than its extent and value 

 merit. It is understood that the late Dr. Holmes, whose Her- 

 barium is one of the treasures of the McGill Museum, presented 

 duplicates of most of his specimens, many years ago, to the Natu- 

 ral History Society. These form the original nucleus of our 

 Herbarium. Additions have from time to time been made to it 

 by other friends of the Society. Lady Dalhousie, who, while in 

 Canada, was an enthusiastic botanist, presented a large collection 

 of well prepared specimens of Canadian Flora, which it is under- 

 stood forms part of the collection. The chief and by far the 

 most valuable portion of the Herbarium, as well as the case in 

 which it is preserved, was however bequeathed to the Society 

 by the late Mr. Macrae, who devoted some years to the study and 

 collection of Nortti American Flora. For this purpose he trav- 

 elled extensively in the Northern States of America and in Canada 

 East. He devoted much time and care to the preparation of his 

 callections, and has left them in admirable condition and preser- 

 vation. They have all been determined in accordance with the 

 system of the latest American botanists ; and comprise several 

 valuable specimens from the Herbaria of Carey and Gray. Mr. 

 Macrae fell into ill health and was long an invalid. An enthusiast 

 in the science of botany, he deserves honourable mention and re- 

 membrance. Although he published nothing to attract attention, 

 he yet is entitled, considering the extent and beauty of his collec- 

 tion, to be named along with the distinguished Botanists of 

 America. The collection should be entitled the Macrae Herba- 

 rium. If properly labelled and catalogued, it would form a good 



