26 PROCEEDIXGS OF THE 



not adorn our list, nothing can be more appropriate than that it 

 should include that of one who was his collaborator and has proved 

 himself to be his legitimate successor. To saj- this is to gi\Q high 

 praise indeed : but it is justly merited. For more than forty 

 years you have been unceasingly engaged in describing, depicting, 

 naming, and classifying the enormous mass of material that has 

 been submitted to you from all parts of the world ; and it is not 

 too much to say, that few have contributed so materially as your- 

 self to the reduction of the mycological chaos. You have enriched 

 the literature of the science with many important works, among 

 which the ' Mycographia ' and the ' Illustrations of the British 

 Fungi' desei've special mention. But your crowning achievement 

 is, I take it, the formation of your great mycological herbarium, 

 copiously illustrated with drawings and notes, which is now, I am 

 glad to say, a national possession safely deposited at Kew. 



"It is on these grounds that I have ventured to speak of you 

 as Berkeley's legitimate successor ; and they also fully justify the 

 ■action of the Council in awarding to you the Linnean Medal, which 

 I now have the honour to present, with sincere congratulations 

 and every good wish." 



Dr. Cooke made a suitable reply in acknowledgment, stating 

 that his election as an Associate of the Society in 1877 was a 

 ^reat encouragement to him in his scientific career, and this award 

 was deeply gratifying to him. 



The General Secretary then laid the Obituary Notices of the 

 past year before the Meeting, as follows, and the proceedings 

 terminated. 



.JoHi!f Bain, an Associate since 2nd April, 1863, was born in 

 Ireland on 9th May, 1815, of Scotch parents, his father, a gardener 

 and land-steward, having settled there some time before. He 

 followed his fathers calling, and served under William Anderson, 

 in the old Physick Garden at Chelsea, which place he left to work 

 at Trinity College Botanical Gardens, James Townsend Mackay 

 being at that time curator, Mackay, author of ' Flora Hibeniica ' 

 {Dublin, 1836), had laid out these gardens in 1806 for the Dublin 

 IJniversity, and he attracted many of the best men of the day to 

 serve under him. David Moore, afterwards of Glasnevin, and his 

 younger brother Charles, afterwards at Sydney, were pupils of 

 Mackay. Bain became foreman, and afterwards assistant-curator 

 to Mackay, acting as amanuensis for the ' Flora Hibernica.' On 

 the death of Mackay in 1862, Bain succeeded him, and under his 

 energetic sway the gardens " took on a second lease of usefulness 

 and popularity." Amongst those who bore testimonv to bis skill 

 were Dr. G. J. Allmau, Prof. W. H. Harvey, Sir W". J. Hooker, 

 and Dr. G. Gardner, the latter sending him original plants of 



