30 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



Mr. William Carruthers moved : — " That the thanks of the 

 Society be given to the President for his excellent Address, and 

 that he be requested to allow it to be printed and circulated 

 among the Fellows ; " and this, having been seconded by Mr. W. 

 Philip Hiern, was carried unanimously. 



The Linkean Gtold Medal. 



The Linnean. Gold Medal for the year was presented to Prof. 

 Gr. J. Allmak, LL.D., F.E.S., and, owing to his inability to 

 attend in person, was handed, on his behalf, to Sir Joseph D. 

 Hooker, K.C.S.L, F.E.S. 



On presenting the Medal the President paid : — " The Council 

 of this Society, having to give their Linnean Medal this year 

 to the first zoologist in the world who has not received it before, 

 has awarded it to Prof. AUman. His first published paper dates 

 1835, and we see him still at work. During this period of sixty 

 years he has produced more than 100 papers and monographs 

 on zoological subjects, ranging from the Protozoa to the Primates. 

 Were he not a Zoologist, his knowledge and investigations in 

 Botany would give him high rank as a JSTaturalist ; his essay, ' On 

 the Mathematical Eelatious of the Forms of the Cells of Plants,' 

 opened a class of enquiry now receiving special attention. 



"Extraordinarily wide as has been the range of his investiga- 

 tions, the Council, in selecting him for the Linnean Medal, have 

 regarded quality rather than quantity. His papers on the dif- 

 ficult groups of the Echinodermata, Polyzoa, Coeleuterata, mark 

 an epoch in Zoology. His monograph on the ' Grymnoblastic or 

 Tubularian Hydrozoids ' is the leading treatise in the world on 

 the subject ; he hss not merely thoroughly examined the animals, 

 he has also introduced a comprehensive terminology and placed 

 the study of the compound Hydrozoa on a scientific basis. 



" Sir Joseph Hooker, it is with peculiar pleasure that I hand 

 you the Linnean Medal to transmit to Prof. Allman ; he occupied 

 the Chair when I first attended the meetings of this Society, and 

 I remember with gratitude the s}mpathetic kindness with which 

 he received my first paper." 



Sir Joseph Hooker having suitably acknowledged the pre- 

 sentation, the Senior Secretary presented the Obituary Notices 

 of deceased Fellows as follows : — 



OBiTUARr Notices. 



The number of our Fellow s whose election took place half-a- 

 century ago is diminishing year by year. Charles Cardale 

 Babington, whose death occurred on 22nd July, 1895, was our 

 senior Fellow, having been elected 1st June, 1830; he was born 

 at Ludlow on 23rd November, 1808, his father being a physician 

 in that town, who afterwards took orders in the English Cimrch. 

 He came of a naturalist's stock ; for Mr. Joseph Babiugton had 



