10 



to be destined to the same result as those that had preceded 

 it. At the time of its establishment there was not, I believe, 

 in New England, an institution devoted to the study of Natu- 

 ral History. There was not a college in New England, ex- 

 cepting Yale College, where philosophical geology of the 

 modern school was taught. There was not a work extant, 

 by a New England author, which presumed to grasp at 

 the geological structure of any portion of our territory of 

 greater extent than a county. There was not in existence a 

 bare catalogue, to say nothing of a general history, of the an- 

 imals of Massachusetts, of any class. There was not within 

 our borders a single Museum of Natural History, founded ac- 

 cording to the requirements, and based upon the systems of 

 modern science, nor a single journal advocating exclusively 

 its interests. We were dependent chiefly upon books and 

 authors foreign to New England, for our knowledge of our 

 own Zoology. There was no one among us who had any- 

 thing like a general knowledge of the birds which fly about 

 us, of the fishes which fill our waters, of the shells of our 

 beaches, or of the lower tribes of animals that swarm both in 

 air and in sea. Some few individuals there were, who were 

 distinguished by high attainments in particular branches, and 

 who formed honorable exceptions to the general indifference 

 which prevailed ; but there was no concentration of opinions 

 or of knowledge, and no means of knowing how much or how 

 little was known. The laborer in Natural History worked 

 solitary and alone, without aid or encouragement from others 

 engaged in the same pursuits, and without the approbation of 

 the public mind, which, unenlightened as it was, yielded no 

 honor to persons occupied with such studies, but on the con- 

 trary, regarded them as busy triflers. 



What is the condition of things now, and to what is the 

 change owing ? There is now a considerable number of insti- 

 tutions devoted to Natural History, and nearly all of them are 

 the direct offspring of this Society, having been founded by 



