LINNEAX SOCIEXr OF LO^SDOy. 7 I 



poafc of Professor of Natural History iu Swarthmore College, aud 

 iu 188-1 lie was made Director of the Biological Departmeut of 

 tlic Uuiversity of Peuusylvauia aud Professor of Zoology aud 

 Comparative Auatomy. He was President of the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. He was a Poreign Member 

 of the Geological Society, and was awarded the Lyell Medal iu 

 1881. In 1880 the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by 

 Harvard University ; and in 1888 the Cuvier Medal was bestowed 

 upon him by the Academy of Sciences of Paris. He visited 

 Europe on four occasions ; and he was elected into innumerable 

 Academies and learned Societies in his own country and all over 

 the world. 



He was elected a Foreign Member of this Society iu 1872. 

 He died on April 30th, 1891 ; beloved by all who knew him, it 

 has been truly said of this great man that he never made au. 

 euemy or lost a friend. 



SiE "William: Macleat was born at Caithness on June 13th, 

 1820, and he was educated there and at the University of 

 Edinburgh. In 1839 he emigrated to Sydney to join his uncle, 

 the late Mr. Alexander Macleay, who for a number of years 

 occupied the position of Colonial Secretary of Isew South Wales. 

 In ISoli he was elected member of the Old Legislative Council, 

 and at the introduction of responsible government, was returned 

 to the Pirst Legislative Assembly. He occupied a seat in the 

 Legislature for more than thirty years, and during that period 

 he was a persistent advocate of all that tended to the progress 

 of his adopted country. 



Sir William INlacleay was a munificent patron of natural 

 science, and exerted himself greatly to promote its encourage- 

 ment iu the Colony. In 1871^ he purchased and fitted out a 

 vessel for a scientific expedition to New Guinea, and the valuable 

 collection of specimens then obtained forms jjarfc of the Macleay 

 Museum of Natural History, which he presented to the Uni- 

 versity of Sydney. The value of the collection was estimated 

 at £23,000, and in addition to this a sum of £0000 was given 

 by Sir William Macleay to provide for the salary of the Curator. 



It was mainly through the efforts of Sir AVilliam Macleay 

 that the Linneau Society of New South Wales was founded in 

 1875, and fi'om that time until his death he was its principal 

 support. He first supplied the rent for the habitation of the 

 Society, and contributed almost entirely the funds requisite ior 

 the purchase of a reference library. He subsequently not only 

 erected at his own expense the building which the Society now 

 occupies, but he has also transferred the building and the lease 

 of the ground upon which it stands to the Society, together with 

 a sum of £11,000 by way of endowment. To quote from the 

 speech of one of the Presidents of the Society, Sir AVilliam 

 Macleay also bore the greater part of the expenses of the 

 Society's publications, supplied the salaries of its ofiicers, fur- 



