Miscellaneous. 507 



just to Sir C. Wyville Tlionisou. After carefully roaJing this letter, 

 now public propcrtj', I have no hesitation in stating that, unless a 

 meaning be placed upon the wording of one part of it which is 

 utterly irreconcilable with another, the sole responsibility for his 

 course of action rests with Sir Wyville Thomson. 



In this letter the specimens collected by the ' Challenger' are 

 divided into two groups — the occasional, which do not bear 

 specially on the objects of the expedition, and those which are 

 •' the jjitces Jiistijii'dfive.'i of a large part of the results of the investi- 

 gations of the ' Challenger.' "' AVith regard to the disposal of the 

 first set, it is stated, " Thei/ [the Council of the Koyal Society] are, 

 however, convincnl that, both in i/ie interests of science and in view of 

 economy, no arran(j('ment could he b ttcr than that proposed bij '"Sir 

 C. W. Thomson ; according to tvhich the xvorlc will he done bij the 

 hi(jhest authorities in their respective subjects in the country, ivhile the 

 naminri of the specimens ivill involve no expense to the Government." 



The second and more important collection is recommended to be 

 dealt with as folloM^s : — " They [the Council of the Koyal Society] 

 hope that their Lordships will see fit to leave the collection mentioned 

 under 12 c in his (Sir W. C. T.'s) charge, to he ivorTcecl out under his 

 direction." 



On turning to paragraph " 12 € " I find the following : — " That 

 the ivhole of the remainder of the collection, including marine inverte- 

 brate animcds, samples of the bottom, samples of ivater for physical 

 and chem,ical examination, remain under my charge as heretofore; 

 my chief assistant, Mr. Murray, Jcecping a chech-list of the wheraihouts 

 of all the specimens placed temporarily for any pmpose out of my 

 custody, so that, in case of my lapsing, he may he familiar vjith the 

 whole arrangement. That a complete type-series of all species be se- 

 lected by me as soon as they are determined and described ami sent to 

 the British Museum ; the duplicates remaining in my hands to he 

 afterwards distributed according to the instructions of their Lord- 

 ships." 



The letter, of which these quotations form a small part, was dated 

 December 8, 187<j. The Treasury then instructed Sir Wyville 

 Thomson. They will insert a sum not exceeding ^4000 in the esti- 

 mates (1877-7<S) to provide for working out the collections included 

 in paragraph 12 e (see ante). 



It is not probable that the Treasury sanctioned Sir Wyville 

 Thomson's course of conduct ; and it is quite evident that no Govern- 

 ment would subsidize foreign naturalists to do the work of competent 

 British investigators. The conduct of the Government has been 

 most liberal ; and therefore, in supporting their patriotic wish to 

 advance science, it is absolutely necessary to thoroughly open up the 

 question of Sir Wyville Thomson's administration in its widest 

 sense. I wish, therefore, to inform you regarding the disposal of 

 the collections and the money. 



The Sea Mammals have been, or are to be, offered to Prof. Turner; 

 the Birds to Dr. Sclater ; the Fish to Dr. Ciiinther ; the Cephalopoda 



