THE ZOOLOaiOAL SOCIETY. 201 



the work of any President or Secretary. Naturally his life was 

 full of incident, and afforded abundant opportunity for graphic 

 description. With the Royal Family he was also a favourite ; 

 he used to take care of Queen Victoria's pet birds during Her 

 Majesty's absence from London, and attend to them when they 

 were ailing. 



At the General Meeting immediately following his death 

 the Council put on record : 



Their deep sense of the services rendered to the Society by the late 

 Mr. Bartlett during the long period for which he had held his post, and 

 their full appreciation of the skill, energy, and faithfulness with which he 

 discharged the multifarious and difficult duties of his office. 



In appointing a successor, they felt they could not ignore 

 the claims of Clarence Bartlett, the late Superintendent's second 

 son, who since 1872 had acted as clerk of works and Assistant 

 Superintendent, and was " fully acquainted with all the details 

 of the business connected with the office and quite competent 

 to discharge them." 



On July 1, 1899, the presidential chair became vacant by 

 the death of Sir William Flower,-^ who had held office for 

 rather more than twenty years. Sir William became a Fellow 

 in 1851, and read his first paper in 1852. Sixty of his con- 

 tributions were printed in the Society's publications, of which 

 fifty-two appeared in the Proceedings and the remainder in 

 the Transactions. The Council expressed their regret at the 

 loss of " a zoologist of the highest abilities, and a most able 

 and energetic President." 



The Duke of Bedford, who became a Fellow in 1872 and 

 was elected into the Council in 1897, was selected by the other 

 members to be President till the next Anniversary Meeting. In 

 asking the Fellows to confirm their choice the Council said 

 they felt confident they would " receive the support of all who 

 were acquainted with the great interest taken by His Grace in 

 the progress of zoology and the splendid collection of living 

 animals founded and maintained at Woburn Abbey." 



The acceptance of the Presidency by the Duke of Bedford 

 was taken as a good omen by those desirous of seeing a 



♦Professor W. H. Flower was made C.B. in 1887 and K.C.B. in 1892. 



