LIXXEAX SOCIETY OF f-OKDOX. 35 



The President having acknowledged the A'ote of Tlianlcs, pio- 

 ceeded to address Sir Ja:\ies Allkn, — 



The Council of:' tlie Linnean Society lins this yeai- awarded the 

 Linaean Gold Medal to Mr. Thomas Frederic Ciieksemax, to 

 express its high appreciation of the valuahle services rendered by 

 him to botanical science through his life-long study of the vege- 

 tation of tlie most distant portion of our overseas dominions. 



When Mr. Thomas Kirk died in 1897, botanists learned with 

 regret that he had made very little progress with the " Students' 

 Flora of New Zealand," on w'hich he had been engaged. They 

 felt, however, that it was a matter for congratulation when they 

 received tlie news that the Government of Xew Zealand, realising 

 the importance of preparing a complete Flora of the Dominion, 

 had commissioned Mr. Cheeseman to continue and complete the 

 work, and relieved him of his olUcial duties as Curator of the 

 Auckland Museum to enable him to do so. Mr. Cheeseman's 

 arduous preparation for his task is modestly summed up by himself 

 in the Introduction to his '^ Manual of the New Zealand Flora," 

 wdiere he states that he began his original researches in 1870, and 

 personally examined almost the whole country from the Kermadec 

 Islands and the North Cape to Otago. Mr. Cheeseman's com- 

 pleted work, published in 1906, is regarded by all who have used 

 it as one of the best manuals of its kind. His two large volumes 

 of " Illustrations," published in England in 1914, with the editorial 

 help of another of our Fellows, Dr. W. B. Ilemsley, are also of 

 great assistance to the student of the New Zealand Flora. 



Mr. Cheeseman has further devoted attention to the Flora of 

 the Subantarctic Islands of New Zealand, and he contributed a 

 systematic account of the Flowering Plants and Ferns to the 

 publication on these Islands edited by Dr. Chilton. I'o his recent 

 description of the Vascular Flora of Macquarie Island, which 

 forms one of the Reports of the Australian Antarctic Expedition 

 (1911-14), he has added an interesting and suggestive discussion 

 of the origin and affinities of the Antarctic Flora. 



Mr. Cheeseman's services to science, however, are not limited 

 to botany. As Curator of the Auckland Museum for many years, 

 he has not only covered a wide field in Natural History, but has 

 also made important contributions to Ethnology. He has brought 

 together a unique collection illustrating the past history and 

 customs of the disappearing Maori civilization, and has become a 

 leading authority on the subject. 



In asking you to convey to Mr. Cheeseman this token of 

 our admiration and esteem, I think it is interesting to note 

 that on the 19th of next month, before the medal can reach 

 him, he will have completed his fiftieth year of Fellowship of 

 our Society. 



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