xx PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
wisdom, knowledge of business, and tact which have always distin- 
guished him in the Council, and for which I now beg leave to ex- 
press most strongly my own obligations and those under which 
the Society at large lies to him. I hope Mr. Bentham will accept 
the assurance of my most earnest wishes that he may long continue 
to occupy a chair which he is so well able to fill; and that, while 
the Society enjoys the benefit and prestige of his Presidency, he 
may ever receive the same confidence, the same kind consideration, 
the same affectionate attachment, as that with which for the last 
eight years I have been honoured. 
OBITUARY NOTICES. 
The Secretary then read the following notices of deceased 
Members. 
George Earl of Aberdeen, whose name for the last twenty-five 
years has stood at the head of the list of Fellows, died on the 
14th December, 1860. 
The well-known public character and career of this distinguished 
patron of literature and art, and the absence in him of any pre- 
tension to scientific fame, render it unnecessary here to do more 
than express the deep sense which this Society, in common with 
the whole British Empire, cannot fail to entertain of the great public 
loss sustained by the decease of one so long eminent as a states- 
man and so distinguished by the excellence of his public and private 
character. 
Robert John Ashton, Esq., was by profession a solicitor, residing 
at_ Pelham Crescent, Brompton, and having chambers in New Inn. 
He was the eldest son of Robert Ashton, Esq., of Brompton, by 
Mary, daughter of J. A. Schwenk, Esq., and was born at Brompton 
in 1812. Educated by the late Rev. Dr. Lewis at Twickenham, 
he was admitted a solicitor in 1836. 
As he was possessed of good independent property, he followed 
his profession more as a means of occupation than of profit, and 
in the exercise of his avocation the strong tendency of his 
mind to scientific and antiquarian pursuits led him to cultivate 
law as a science, and to investigate the intricacies of titles rather 
than to engage in active practice. 
Mr. Ashton was a good classical scholar and well versed in the 
German and French languages; but the natural bias of his mind 
was better exbibited in scientific and antiquarian studies, and espe- 
cially in that of natural history. Thus chemistry, botany, 
