April 1902.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBUKGH 197 



and distribute the duplicates as they shall thiuk 

 proper. 



The following extracts from the Minutes of the Town 

 Council of the City of Edinburgh explain what took place 

 and what arrangement was made : — 



ExcEPiPT from Minute of Meeting of the Town Council, 

 9th January 1839. 



Eead a Eeport by the College Committee to which was 

 remitted Memorial and Petition of the Botanical Society ; 

 which Memorial and Petition, Letter from Professor 

 Graham thereto appended, and Eeport of the Committee 

 are of the following tenor : — 



To the Honourable the Patrons of the University of 

 Edinburgh, the Memorial and Petition of the undersigned 

 Office-bearers of the Botanical Society, for themselves, and 

 in name of the Society, humbly showeth — • 



That the Botanical Society was originated in March 1836 

 by the Professor of Bptany and some of the more advanced 

 cultivators of this science in the city and neighbourhood. 



The objects.for wdiich it was instituted were threefold — 



(1) To form a general Herbarium, on scientific principles, 

 for the use and information of members, as well as all other 

 students of Botany. 



(2) To establish a system of exchange, by which plants 

 from every country should be brought to Edinburgh as to a 

 common centre, and from thence as widely dispersed among 

 those who should enrol themselves as applicants for these, 

 and the terms prescribed ; and 



(3) To promote, by correspondence, essays, and other 

 means, a well regulated taste for the study of Botany, an 

 accurate inquiry respecting the phenomena of vegetation, 

 and a general investigation into the properties and uses of 

 plants. 



That the Society, which at its origin consisted but of 

 twenty-one members, has in little more than two years 

 become increased tenfold, its members amounting to about 

 two hundred, of whom twenty-six are honorary members, 

 eighty-two resident, sixty- four non-resident, and twenty- 

 seven foreign members, comprehending most of the distin- 

 guished names in botanical science throughout the world. 



