LrNNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. 35 



those of Martin Duncau, P. H. Carpenter, and Percy Sladeu on 

 Echinodermata; of Mr. McLachlan on Neuroptera; of Mr. Bowdlcr 

 Sharpe on Birds. Palneontology is represented by sjvcral memoirs 

 in the " Transactions " by Prof. H. G. Seeley and Prof. Hay 

 Lankester. The papers of morphological and descriptive interest 

 are very numerous. Of these the most severely scientitic are 

 perhaps the memoirs by AV. K. Parker ou the morphology of the 

 skull in various families of Amphibians and Birds, which form such 

 a splendid series in our " Transactions " ; but there are many of 

 importance by Moseley, Prof. Mcintosh, Prof. Herdman, Prof. Howes, 

 and other writers of more recent date, among which I would 

 specially mention those on the Polyzoa by Mr. Arthur William 

 Waters, as the outcome of work carried on under great difficulties. 

 I^or must we forget Allman, our first Zoological President in the 

 evolutionary epoch, whose " Anniversary Addresses " are valuable 

 as summaries of knowledge relating to various groups of animals 

 which he had himself specially studied ; and who described in our 

 "Journal " (xv.) the remarkable freshwater Medusa, Lhnnocodium 

 Sowerhiji. Of pschyological interest are Lord Avebury's series of 

 papers on ' Ants, Bees, and "Wasps ' and ' On the Sense of Colour 

 among some of the Lower Animals ' (Journ. sii.-xx.), in which are 

 recorded the results of prolonged and laborious observation. Finally, 

 there is a considerable amount of literature relating to the theory 

 of evolution — curiously enough, quite unrepresented ou the botanical 

 side — comprising important papers by the Bev. T. Giiliek, Komanes' 

 treatise on 'Physiological Selection' (Journ. xix.), Dr. Wallaces 

 paper ' On the Utility of Specific Characters ' (Journ. xxv.), and 

 Prof. Poulton's ' On JSTatural Selection the Cause of Mimetic 

 Resemblance ' (Journ. xxvi.). 



I have now completed, in little more than bare outline, the 

 analysis of our Society's publications. I might proceed, did time 

 permit, to enlarge upon the many Fellows, distinguished either in 

 Science or in other departments of intellectual activity, whose 

 names adorn our roll ; and who, though they may have contributed 

 little or nothing to us in the shape of papers, have in other ways 

 rendered yeoman service either directly to the Linnean Society or 

 otherwise to the cause of science in general. It would, I think, be 

 well worth while, had we the means for such a luxury at our 

 disposal, to issue a complete register of all our Fellows from the 

 foundation of the Society to the end of the Nineteenth Century. 

 However, I have, I believe, adduced evidence enough to establish 

 my main proposition, that the Linnean Society has faithfully dis- 

 charged its trust as defined in our Charter — the cultivation of 

 Natural History in all its branches. The publications of the Society 

 have become the most important channel by which the results of 

 research in Systematic Botany, in this country, are communicated 

 to the world ; and this is true also of Systematic Zoology, though 

 here the distinction is shared with the Zoological Society. But 

 although taxonomy is the characteristic feature of the Society's 



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