PREFACE 



" It is the opinion of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that it would be to the honour 

 and advantage of the Navy and conduce to the general interests of Science, if new facilities and 

 encouragement were given to the collection of information upon scientific subjects by the officers, 

 and more particularly by the medical officers, of Her Majesty's Navy, when upon foreign service. 



And it will be for their Lordships to consider whether some pecuniary reward 



or promotion may not be given to those who succeed in producing eminently useful results."' 



In the autumn of the year 1846, Her Majesty's Ship "Rattlesnake" was commissioned 

 by the late Captain Owen Stanley, who had been charged by the Admiralty with the duty of 

 surveying the intricate passage within the Barrier Reef which skirts the eastern shores 

 of Australia, and of exploring the sea which lies between the northern end of this reef 

 and New Guinea and the Louisiade Archipelago. A very competent naturalist, Mr. J. 

 Macgillivray, was appointed to the vessel, but Captain Stanley, justly appreciatino- the 

 largeness of the field likely to be opened to students of Natural History by the cruise, 

 desired to increase the strength of his expedition in this department of science. To 

 this end, he applied to Sir John Richardson, at that time the Medical Inspector of Haslar 

 Hospital, to recommend him an assistant-surgeon who should possess some knowledo-e 

 of Natural History, or who, at any rate, had sufficient zeal and love for it to be likely to 

 convert opportunity into knowledge. 



Since the spring of 1846, when I joined the medical service of the Navy, I had 

 been doing duty at Haslar, under the orders of Sir John Richardson, who, always thoughtful 

 and kindly in act, though sparing of words, to his subordinates, had, I suppose, noticed 

 my bent; for, in the summer, I found that, without any solicitation on my part, he had 

 endeavoured to obtain for me an appointment to the Haslar Museum. Failing in this, 



^ Extract from a Memorandum by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty prefixed to 

 the first edition of the ' Manual of Scientific Inquiry prepared for the use of Her Majesty's Naw,' 

 edited by Sir J. F. W. Herschel, and published in 1849. 



