24 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



twentj in number, which originally were part of the correspondence 

 of the Rev. L. Gruilding, the well-known naturalist of St. Vincent, 

 who himself was ia occasional communication with Swainson. All 

 refer to the Flora and Fauna of the "West Indies, especially of 

 St. Vincent and Guadeloupe. The most remarkable are those 

 written between 1813 and 1819 by Ferdinand L'Herminier, a man 

 of wide and sound information and an accurate observer, who 

 afterwards made himself known by his researches into the ossifi- 

 cation of the Avian sternum. In the years iu which those letters 

 are dated, he followed geological and mineralogical pursuits, for 

 which his residence in the volcanic island of Guadeloupe gave him 

 ample materials. It appears from his letters that he sent two 

 papers to London — one, on Guadeloupe Geology, to the President 

 of the Eoyal Society, which seems to be the same as the one that 

 appeared about that time in the ' Journal de Physique,' vols. 30 

 and 31 (1815). The other paper, entitled " Considerations sur 

 I'etat primitif des Antilles," was communicated to the Geological 

 Society, but neA'er published. In this memoir, of which the well- 

 kept manuscript is still in the Library of that Society, he enters 

 into the geology of the Antilles generally, maintaining that the 

 Gulf of Mexico was once a Mediterrauean sea. I hope that the 

 Geological Society may yet do justice to the memory of a man of 

 genius who has anticipated many modern ideas, if on a renewed 

 examination the paper or an abstract of it should be found worthy 

 of a place in their tfournal. 



And now my task is concluded. I resign the honourable trust, 

 which you confided to me four years ago, into younger and stronger 

 hands. I do so wT:th that passing regret which we all feel when a 

 chapter in our life closes ; but I do so also with a strong feeling of 

 lasting satisfaction. If the term of my Presidency has not been 

 signalized by any measure markedly beneficial to the Society, your 

 affairs, I trust, have not been allowed to suffer or languish ; the 

 duties of this chair and the introduction into the inner workings 

 of the Society, have been a source of real pleasure to me. The 

 hearty co-operation of your Council and Officers has lightened my 

 duties, and I offer my thanks to them as well as to all who have 

 indulgently borne with my shortcomings. And now nothing 

 remains to me but to express the hope that I shall continue to be 

 able to be of some use to the Society in the years that may yet be 

 in store for me. 



