557 



of the trees from which they were taken ; the whole gathered by him- 

 self, and being, perhaps, the largest collection of this particular kind 

 ever made by any unaided individual. 



"At the end of this period he returned to Europe with an im- 

 mense increase to his collection, but with a constitution irreparably 

 injured by the hardships which he had encountered ; and even at 

 home he was destined to meet a severe loss. In the transport from 

 London to Dublin, a case containing his botanical manuscripts, and 

 the materials of a personal narrative, disappeared, and could never be 

 traced ; so that of the latter, nothing remains except a brief account 

 of Upper California, published in the 5th volume of the Journal of 

 the Geographical Society, and the former are totally lost, except some 

 communications to De Candolle and Lambert. After this his chief 

 anxiety was to secure the herbarium, which had cost him so much, 

 from dispersion or neglect ; and in this at least he was not disap- 

 pointed. It has become the property of our University, and the 

 task of arranging it was the employment of his few remaining years, 

 which were devoted to that work with a concentrated energy that 

 shewed his consciousness of his days being numbered. It was completed 

 for the European part, and about 8,000 of the American specimens ; 

 but the remaining packages are well furnished with memoranda, so 

 that for them also the arrangement is practicable. That the posses- 

 sion of this invaluable treasure must give a powerful impulse to the 

 study of Botany among us is sufficiently obvious ; but it is doubly 

 interesting to a scientific body like this, as an evidence of the increas- 

 ing importance attached to the study of Natural History in the 

 highest and most influential quarter. That important branch of 

 knowledge has hitherto been too much neglected in university edu- 

 cation ; but better prospects are opening ; and to this the influence 

 of one so good and highly gifted as Dr. Coulter seems mainly to have 

 contributed. Should our hopes be realised, there is no doubt that 

 he would have regarded it as an ample compensation for all his suf- 

 ferings." 



The ballot for the annual election having closed, the 

 Scrutineers reported that the following gentlemen were 

 elected Officers and Council for the ensuing year : 



