THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 9 



could at that time boast" to unite themselves into this 

 Club, and having alluded to what they had effected, he added 

 as a climax : 



But it was in the impulse originally given by their exertions to the 

 propagation of science, more particularly by laying the foundation of the 

 Zoological Society, that powerful association which, with almost unlimited 

 resources, carried their principles and their objects into execution, that 

 their agency is to be traced. 



An identical claim is made by Mr. Vigors when referring 

 to the dissolution of the Club: 



We can hope, in fact, to merit or attain no further wreath by our 

 own exertions. The activity of those members who first promoted, and 

 subsequently contributed to the support of, this club has been called into 

 a wider and more useful sphere ; and to keep up the name and pre- 

 tensions of a scientific body, with diminished resources — but, above all, 

 to retain the character of representing the zoology of this country, 

 where a more efficient and legitimate representative of the science [the 

 Zoological Society], springing from ourselves, has left us little claim to 

 the dignity— would only serve to institute a striking contrast, of benefit 

 to neither party. We have, in fact, completed our work, and it is time 

 we should retire. The arch is rounded, and the keystone filled in, and 

 it is expedient that the humble scaffolding should be removed from all 

 incongruous juxtaposition with the noble edifice which it w^as mainly 

 instrumental in erecting. 



In his peroration he again congratulated the Club on the 

 part the members had played in the establishment of the 

 Zoological Society: 



On the eve of the dissolution of this club, it is a theme not merely 

 of consolation, but of triumph, that we have been the embryo of that 

 higher body which has now sprung into the perfect form. The individuals 

 who are now about to separate will carry in their recollection, to their 

 latest day, the share which they have had in this great consummation. 

 The occurrences of those evenings will ever be vivid in their memory 

 when, in conjunction with the illustrious founder and first president of 

 that Society, they suggested the auspiciousness of the times for such 

 an undertaking, and the probability, I should say the certainty, of 

 success. With what delight have we dwelt upon the words of that 

 great man when, with an intelligence that in a less enlightened age 

 might have passed for a spirit of prophecy, he portrayed, even to the 

 minutest details, the plans and the hopes which we have since seen 

 realised ! 



