LTlfNEAN SOCIETY OP LONDOIf. 1 9 



bj Swainson, that only too frequently he paid no attention to 

 Broderip's corrections and, finally, in exasperation, quarrelled 

 with him. Broderip's letters to Swainson are among the most 

 pleasing part of the whole correspondence, and bear witness to the 

 generous spirit which guided the man in his private and public 

 life, and secured to him uuiversal regard to the end of his days. 

 The lack of Broderip's friendly helping hand is painfully evident 

 in some of Swainson's later publications. 



Not only Broderip, but also other correspondents took occasion 

 to caution Swainson against this want of care in writing and 

 composition. His devoted friend, the Eev. Dr. J. Goodall, Provost 

 of Eton, who was a zealous student of British shells, implored him 

 to let him see his manuscripts before they were committed to 

 the press, preparing even, for Swainson's use, a list of generic 

 terms from the Grreek, some of which are still familiar to the 

 malacologist. 



In 1822 the Keepership of the Natural Histor}'' Department of 

 the British Museum became vacant by the resignation of Dr. Leach. 

 Swainson was very anxious to obtain this appointment, and there 

 are many letters in the correspondence referring to the matter. 

 In the list of his supporters were Dr. William Hooker (who, by- 

 the-by, confessed to having still a " hankering after Zoology," and 

 who himself seems to have been invited to be a candidate for the 

 post *), and especially Dr. Thomas Stewart Traill of Liverpool, 

 afterwards Professor of Medical Jurisprudence at Edinburgh. 

 Traill occupied at that time a prominent position in Liverpool, 

 taking an active part in the local movements for the advancement 

 of science. He was one of the founders of the Eoyal Liverpool 

 Institution and of a local Museum. By the wide range of his 

 knowledge he was enabled to engage in a variety of research work 

 which, however, has not been characterized by accuracy or relia- 

 bility t. To Swainson he was personally greatly attached, and 

 ■confidently expected the success of his candidature. Swainson's 

 failure was to him no less a disappointment than to Swainson himself, 

 and induced him to engage in a crusade against the Trustees of the 

 British Museum and the administration of the Natural History 

 Department, by publishing anonymous articles in the ' Edinburgh 

 Review 'J and 'Westminster Eeview,' which have excited a good 



* Sir William Hooker was an accomplished Ornithologist and Entomologist 

 before he devoted himself to Botany (1806). He had formed a good collection 

 of the Birds and Insects of Norfolk, and specimens of his collecting are still in 

 the Norwich Museum. His Library included all the more important Zoological 

 publications which appeared in England about that time. In fact, his qualifica- 

 tions as a Zoologist were far superior to those of Children who obtained the 

 appointment. 



t Proc. E. Soc. Edinb. v. 1866, p. 32. 



t Vol. xxxyiii. (1832). — Traill mentions in one of his letters the 'Westminster,' 

 but I have not been able to lay my hand on the particular article, in which, it 

 would seem, he exposed the neglect of specimens collected by Franklin's 

 expedition. 



c2 



