76 COLUMBIAN INSTITUTE FOR THE 



Laurie, president; Samuel Eliot, jr., first vice president; George 

 Watterston, secretary; John Boyle, treasurer; Doctors Alex. Mc- 

 Williams, John Brereton and Henry Huntt, curators; William A. 

 Bradley, William Elliot, J. W. Hand, James Kearney, J. M. Moore 

 and John Underwood. Subsequent additions to the resident mem- 

 bership were Mr. Franzoni, Joseph Milligan, James Thompson, 

 Mr. Steiner, Rudolph Schaer, Dr. Nicholas Worthington and Miss 

 Ann Davis. At least half of these persons also belonged to the 

 Columbian Institute. The Botanical Society, however, never in- 

 cluded all of the above mentioned members at any one time, as many 

 withdrew or were dropped for non-payment of dues or for non- 

 attendance at meetings, and on March 6, 1822, the secretary an- 

 nounced the membership reduced to Dr. Brereton, Dr. McWilliams, 

 Mr. Boyle, Mr. Underwood, Mr. Elliot and Maj. Kearney. Of hon- 

 orary members there were three, elected in 1820, namely, Dr. Jacob 

 Bigelow, of Boston ; Dr. William Darlington, of West Chester, Pa. ; 

 and Dr. W. P. C. Barton, of Philadelphia. 



The four committees between which the District was to be divided 

 for purposes of collecting were appointed on April 7, 1817, and 

 during the first four years the society displayed much activity, many 

 specimens being presented, examined and discussed at the meetings, 

 which numbered 28 in 1817, 26 in 1818, 21 in 1819 and 15 in 1820. 

 By this time, however, interest had begun to decline, and we find 

 only 5 meetings recorded for 1821, and 7 for 1822. In the four 

 years which followed there was but a single meeting annually, and 

 at the last of these, on March 27, 1826, while officers were elected 

 and no act of dissolution was passed, the society adjourned sine die 

 after adopting the following resolutions: 



" That it be made the duty of the president of the society to collect 

 all the books belonging to the same, to have them deposited in a case 

 in the Washington Library, under the charge of the librarian, that 

 each member may have access to the same agreeable to the rules of 

 the society. 



" That the president, Dr. McWilliams, be authorized to take charge 

 of the herbarium till further order be taken." 



That the society had been willing, under certain conditions, to 

 surrender its independence in less than eight months from the time 

 of its organization is evident from a resolution passed on October 31, 

 1817, but not carried into effect, namely, 



" that the Washington Botanical Society consent to become mem- 

 bers of the Columbian Institute provided they so alter the constitu- 

 tion as to admit said society into the Committee on Botany and 

 Agriculture." 



What finally became of the specimens has not been ascertained, but 

 under date of January 14, 1826, over two months before they were 



