LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. xix 
of these alterations. They were made by the Council after the 
most mature deliberation, and I believe that every one who com- 
pares their present with their past state will acknowledge that 
every change has been an improvement. 
The vacancy occasioned by the much-regretted retirement of 
Dr. Boott from the office of Treasurer, has been proposed to 
be filled up by the nomination of Mr. Wilson Saunders—an ar- 
rangement which needs no recommendation from me to secure the 
cordial approval of the Society. But, to my sorrow, I have to an- 
nounce that, whilst retiring from office, Dr. Boott has also sig- 
nified his desire not to be re-elected into the Council, a circum- 
stance which will be felt by the whole Society as a serious loss.—. 
After having acted as Secretary and as Treasurer for many years, 
during which his services in both capacities, and as a member of 
Council, were invaluable, whilst the gentle urbanity of his manners, 
his warmth of heart, and the never-failing interest he always took 
in the welfare of the Society caused him to be regarded with the 
deepest personal esteem and respect, his removal from a position 
which kept him, as it were, in continual and close relation to us, 
will be felt by us all as a very painful breach in our brotherhood. 
Before I take my leave, Gentlemen, I cannot but advert for 
a moment to the very important duty which will devolve upon 
you this day—the choice of a new President. When, from circum- 
stances with which I have no occasion to trouble you, I de- 
cided upon inflicting on myself the severe self-denial of request- 
ing the Society not to re-elect me as their President at this Anni- 
versary, I considered it my duty to confer with the Treasurer and 
some other of the older members of the Council as to the gentle- 
man whom I should propose as my successor. The first considera- 
tion was, that he should be a Botanist, and it appeared to me and 
to my friends and consultees, that there could be no hesitation as 
to the distinguished person who should be proposed to the Council 
for their nomination. Mr. Bentham’s extensive—may I not say 
unequalled ? —knowledge of scientific botany is too well known to 
need any eulogy from me. We have all for years past been accus- 
tomed to listen with admiration to his papers in this room, and 
to the good sense and extensive information which he has thrown 
into our discussions. 
But there is one claim which Mr. Bentham possesses to the 
suffrages of the Linnean Society in particular, on which no one is 
more entitled to speak than myself, and that is the remarkable 
b2 
