LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. XVil 
vested. I need not say that it has always been my most anxious 
wish that thisimportant object should be as soon as possible attained. 
The independence of the Society and its free action can only 
be secured by the possession of a fund on which to fall back in 
case of any temporary suspension of prosperity, or of any contin- 
gent call for unusual or unexpected expenditure. 
Although I have not thought it necessary to enter into any de- 
tail of our own corporate acts, I think it will be interesting to you 
to learn that in the completion of Mr. Bentham’s ‘ Flora of Hong- 
kong,’ we have, I believe, the first example of a colonial flora 
published under the auspices of the Colonial Secretary, with Go- 
vernment aid, and that the first volume of the ‘ Flora Capensis, ’ 
by Dr. Harvey and Dr. Sonder, has also been issued with the 
assistance of the Cape Government. It is much to be desired 
that these examples of the publication of the Natural History of 
our Colonies under the auspices of Government should be followed 
out with a judicious and well-applied liberality. 
The spread of the love and study of natural history, and its 
teaching by means of lectures and the formation of local mu- 
seus, is as satisfactory in our English provinces as I last year 
described it to be in Ireland. At Leeds, the sum of nearly £8000 
has been raised for enlarging and improving the museum belong- 
ing to the Literary and Philosophical Society, which, owing in 
great measure to the efforts of the Rev. T. Hincks, is rapidly ac- 
quiring importance. The collections there are both extensive and 
interesting. Two volumes of ‘ Transactions’ have been published in 
former years. The County Museum at York is an admirable one, and 
very useful lectures are delivered there. At Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 
there is the nucleus of an excellent museum, “ which,” says my 
informant, “is extending by the efforts of some energetic young 
men, aided by a legacy from the late Robert Stephenson and 
donations from Sir William Armstrong and others. There is also 
a flourishing Microscopical Society, and other institutions having 
more or less the objeet of the cultivation of natural history. ”’ 
The Tyneside Naturalists’ Field Club is a society of very respectable 
standing, and, as I have long known, admirably conducted. The 
number of members was at Christmas last no less than 345, and it 
is still steadily increasing. I have seen several parts of the ‘ Trans- 
actions,’ which are highly creditable, and no papers are published 
but such as are strictly on local subjects. Similar institutions, 
as I am informed, exist at Manchester and some other places. 
VOL. VI. b 
