147 



firmly, to fulfil all the obligations which belong to it, implied no less 

 than direct. We have recently set forth our claims upon the com- 

 munity for patronage. It should be remembered that the public, 

 though it does not formally set forth its claims upon us, has them, and 

 with 'a deeper interest in the study of nature than has been known 

 before, judges us with a severer scrutiny and by a higher standard 

 than at any previous period. So long as we make our collections 

 useful and our studies conducive to the public good, and thus show 

 ourselves faithful to our trusts, we are justified in the belief that we 

 may confidently expect to receive hereafter, as we have received 

 already, every necessary support and encouragement. 



Professors W. B. Rogers and Agassiz congratulated the 

 Society on this addition to their funds at so opportune a 

 moment, and the following resolutions, offered by Dr. A. 

 A. Gould, were unanimously adopted : — 



Resolved, That the Society accepts with gratitude the donation of 

 Dr. Wm. J. Walker, on the terms stipulated. 



That the accession of so munificent a sum to our funds at a moment 

 when further expansion, with our actual resources, must have been 

 very limited, greatly encourages us to new and more efficient 

 exertion. 



That it shall be our diligent care that the avails from the donation 

 shall be applied prudently and practically towards the cultivation and 

 diffusion of useful knowledge ; specially aiming to modify the direc- 

 tion of our endeavors, as the spirit of the age may from time to time 

 indicate. 



Dr. Christian F. Liitken, of the University Museum, 

 Copenhagen, was elected a Corresponding Member. 



DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM. 



Jaimar}' 2, 1861. A tympanic bone of Zeuglodon; by C. S. Hale. An 

 African python, and loggerhead turtle (Thalassochelys caouana), young; by 

 James A. Cutting. A collection of human bones; by Dr. Henry Bryant. 

 Two specimens of Callichthys, from Surinam; by Henry Morse. Specimens of 

 amethystine quai-tz, from Uraguay ; by R. B. Forbes. Pampas grass ( Gyna- 

 rium aryenteum) ; by Dennis Murray. A fossil coral, and palatal tooth of fish, 

 from Wiltshire, England; by Dr. H. W. Adams. 



January 16. Six species of Ophiuridce, from the KingsmiU group; by Prof. 

 Agassiz. A Rotula from Cape Palmas; by Kathan Farrand. 



February 6. Eighty speci'.^s of birds, two monkeys, and four squirrels, from 

 Equatorial Africa; by Paul B. Du Chaillu. Wilson's phalarope, male and 

 female, from Wisconsin ; by Thure Kumlien. A mouse, affected by a parasitic 

 fungus ; by Dr. S. Kneeland, Ji*. 



Febmary 20. I.'ock perforated by boring animals, fi-om the Bay of St. 

 Lawrence; by Addison Gott. Twenty specimens of silver and other ores, 



