BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 5 



ponding, 68, and of the Associate, 24. It is not clear what privileges these last had as 

 members of the Society, except the implied one that they were not subject to assessment. 



In the list of the early Corresponding Members, it is pleasant to find the name of 

 Dr. William J. Walker, to whose great bounty the Boston Society of Natural History is 

 indebted for its present standing among the leading scientific societies of the world, if not 

 for its very existence ; for there is much reason for the opinion that had the Society con- 

 tinued dependent on the voluntary labors of its members as would necessarily have 

 been the case without his help, it would have met the fate of the majority of the 

 societies of natural history, which have been formed under apparently favorable auspices, 

 have flourished for a time, and then faded out of existence. But more of this when his 

 large benefactions to the Boston Society of Natural History are mentioned in the course 

 of this history. 



It may be a matter of interest to the reader to have presented here some of the names 

 of members connected with the Society, particularly of such as afterwards distinguished 

 themselves in their several callings, or at a subsequent period became active members of 

 the Boston Society of Natural History. Among them may be found : 

 As Immediate Members : 



Dr. Jacob Bigelow. Francis C. Gray. Dr. John Randall. 



Dr. Walter Channing. Dr. Geo. Hayward. Dr. John Ware. 



Benj. A. Gould. Octavius Pickering. Dr. John W. Webster. 



As Honorary Members : 



Hon. John Davis. Rev. James Freeman. Rev. John Prince. 



Hon. John Lowell. Prof. Wm. D. Peck. Rev. J. Lathrop. 



Hon. Christopher Gore. Rev. Manassah Cutler. Rev. J. T. Kirkland. 



Dr. John Jeffries. Dr. John Warren. 



As Corresponding Members : 



Nathaniel Bowditch. Prof. Benj. Silliman. S. G. Perkins. 



Josiah Quincy. Robert Hare. Dr. E. Hale. 



Dr. W. J. Walker. Prof. Parker Cleaveland. Thomas H. Perkins. 



Benjamin Pierce. 



As Associate Members : 



Joseph Tilden. Rev. Wm. Ellery Channing. Dr. Geo. C. Shattuck. 



Dr. J. C. Warren. Wm. Minot. Rev. Edward Everett. 



Dr. James Jackson. Richard Sullivan. Nathan Hale. 



Francis Boott. 



The first officers elected were 



John Davis, LL.D., President. 



Wm. S. Shaw, Vice-President. 



Jacob Bigelow, Corresponding Secretary. 



George Hayward, Recording Secretary. 



Octavius Pickering, Treasurer. 



John W. Webster, Cabinet- Keeper. 



On December 29th, in accordance with a vote previously passed, the several members 

 having specimens to present to the Society towards the formation of a museum brought 

 them forward, and it is recorded that a considerable collection was made. 



