LIFE OF FLOWER 15 



in 1879, an d ' m this important position he remained till 

 his death. It should be added that Flower never 

 received one of the medals of the Zoological Society, 

 and this for the very good reason that such rewards are 

 bestowed in recognition of gifts to the Society's Mena- 

 gerie, and not for contributions to zoological knowledge. 

 Flower's contributions to both the Transactions and the 

 Proceedings of the Society were numerous, and, needless 

 to say, valuable ; the earliest in the former having been 

 published in 1866, and in the latter in 1852. With very 

 few exceptions, these communications relate to mammals. 

 Fuller details with regard to Sir William's Presidency 

 of the Zoological Society will be found in a later 

 chapter. 



Of the Linnean Society, Flower was elected a Fellow 

 in 1862, but he does not appear to have ever taken any 

 active part in the administration of that body, or to have 

 contributed to its publications, although for a time he 

 was a Vice-President. 



To the Geological Society, on the other hand, of 

 which he became a Fellow in the year 1886, Sir William 

 contributed three papers on paleontological subjects, by 

 far the most important of which was one on the affinities 

 and probable habits of the extinct Australian marsupial 

 Thylacoleo. Further allusion to this is made in the sequel. 

 Of the other two, one recorded the occurrence of teeth 

 of the bear-like Hyatnarctus in the Red Crag of Suffolk, 

 and the other that of a skull of the manatee-like Ha/i- 

 therium in the same formation. 



Of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and 

 Ireland Flower was elected a Vice-President in 1879, 

 while in 1883 he succeeded to the Presidential chair, 



