1840.] Linnean Society. ^7 



the President opened the business of the meeting, and in stating the 

 number of Members whom the Society had lost during the past 

 year, gave the following notices of some of them : — 



George, Duke of Marlborough, one of the Honorary Members, was 

 distinguished for his botanical taste, and for his zeal in the cultiva- 

 tion of exotic plants ; and the magnificent collection formed by him 

 at White Knights was long one of the finest in this country, both in 

 regard to its extent, and the rarity and beauty of the specimens. 

 His taste for Botany continued unabated to the last, and the col- 

 lection established afterwards at Blenheim was chiefly cultivated 

 under his own immediate superintendence. 



John Bart let, Esq. 



John, Duke of Bedford, K.G. — This amiable and accomplished 

 nobleman was a most munificent patron of the arts and sciences in 

 general, and especially of Botany, in the cultivation of which he 

 took great delight. We are indebted to him for several splendidly 

 illustrated works, abounding in valuable practical remarks, on par- 

 ticular tribes of plants, of which he had formed extensive collections 

 at his magnificent seat of Woburn Abbey. 

 William Beet ham, Esq. 



William Christy, Jun., Esq. — Few persons cultivated Botany and 

 Entomology with more ardour than Mr. Christy, who, to the regret 

 of his friends, and to the loss of science, was cut off at an early age. 

 His zeal and success in the pursuit of science were only equalled by 

 his readiness and liberality to impart to others a portion of the 

 stores which he had collected. He had formed an extensive Her- 

 barium of British and Foreign Plants, and for that purpose had 

 made several extensive tours in the British Isles, and had also vi- 

 sited Madeira and Norway. His collection of dried plants, and 

 books on Botany, he gave to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 

 of which he was one of the insti tutors. 



Lord Charles Spencer Churchill. 



Richard Cotton, Esq. 



Allan Cunningham, Esq. — This eminent botanist and traveller was 

 born in the beginning of the year 1791, at Wimbledon, where his 

 father (who was a native of Ayrshire) held the situation of gardener. 

 His father took great pains with his education, and placed him, 

 along with his younger brother, Richard, at an excellent academy at 

 Putney, then conducted by the Rev. Mr. Adams. About the year 

 1808 both brothers were engaged in the office of the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens at Kew, at the period when the second edition of the 'Hor- 

 tus Keivensis ' was passing through the press. In the autumn of 



