— 140 — 



Tlio figure given by Milne Edwards iu his Hlstoire Naturelte 

 des Crustacces, is not a good one — The specimens we possess 

 of this Cruatacean are not iu a very good condition and have 

 lost their colours. — Those sent by you are much better and 

 are therefore thankfully received aud form now a portion of 

 our collection of Craftacea. 



Believe me, 



Yours very truly, 



W. Baird, 

 M. D. N. E. S. &c. 

 Zool. Depart. British Museum. 



The Secretary referred once more to the loss sustained 

 by the Natural Sciences in the death of Dr. Meller^ and 

 brought to the notice of the Society a letter written by 

 Dr. George Bennett of Sydney;, and addressed to Mr. 

 Berthold Seemann, Editor of the '^^ Journal of Botany 

 British & Foreign of London " — the letter was published 

 in that journal and runs thus :-- 



" I beg to send you a brief account of the death of Dr- 

 Meller, so that you may give a compiled notice iu the " Jour- 

 nal of Botany," if you think it will be proper. 



" Dr. Charles James Melier (M. D. and member of the 

 Boyal College of Surgeons of England, 1857) died at Ailing- 

 ton House, Berrima, New South Wales, on the 26th of Fe- 

 bruary 1869, aged thirty three years. He died from general 

 debility, the result of frequent attacks of fever, first contracted 

 when in Africa, with Dr. Livingstone, and also in Madagascar. 

 He arrived in December at Sydney from the Mauritius via 

 Melbourne, having been sent by the Government of that 

 Island to collect different varieties of the Sugar-Cane, and 

 was proceeding to Queensland, and also to some of the Pacific 

 Islands &c. for the furtherance of that object. He visited 

 Queensland, unfortunately at the hottest season of the year, 

 and after collecting and forwarding a large quantity of Sugar- 

 Canes to the Mauritius {via, Sydney) he was taken ill with a 

 renewal of hi; old fever, aud v/ith some diSiculty was moved 

 to Sydney, where he arrived in a seriously debilitated state. 



