25 



CHAPTER II. 



1827—1830. 



These four years constituted a period of preparation for the 

 scientific^ work of the Societj^, and witnessed the formation of 

 the Museum, the laying out and opening of the Garden — for 

 at first there was but one — and the experiment of a breeding 

 farm. 



The first important business was the election of a new Presi- 

 dent : the Marquess of Lansdowne was chosen, and held office 

 till he retired in 1831. At the same meeting Dr. Rafiles was 

 elected into the Council. Ladies were declared eligible for mem- 

 bership ; and it was resolved that those who were proposed by 

 any member of the Council " should be admitted to the Society 

 on the same terms and with the same privileges as Gentlemen 

 Subscribers." At the same time it was determined to elect 

 Corresponding Members to further the objects of the Society 

 in foreign parts or in the provinces, and fifteen were chosen, 

 among whom was Captain G. F. Lyon, the commander of the 

 Hecla in the expedition under Captain W. E. Parry for the 

 discovery of a North-west passage. 



Thanks to Yarrell's methodical habits, one of the first 

 circulars of instructions to Corresponding Members has been 

 preserved ; it is worth quoting to show what was expected from 

 those on whom the honour was conferred : 



* This epithet is employed in a wide sense, so as to include bionomical work of 

 all kinds on farm and menagerie stock as well as in the laboratory. Had the early 

 practice of the Society been continuously carried out, Regent's Park might have 

 claimed to be free from Professor Ray Lankester's reproach {Ency. Brit, xxiv, 817) 

 that the science of Zoological Gardens is that of the morphographer and systematist 

 rather than of the bionomist— of the worker on dead structure and the cataloguer 

 and classifier, rather than of the student of living animals who seeks to correlate 

 them, and fit each into its appropriate niche in the scheme of things. 



