88 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE 



collection of the skeletons of animals suffocated at the fire in Portland Street, by the osteo. 

 logical collection of the late Dr. Lane, by a series of crania from Dr. Henry Bryant, and 

 by 5 a skull and nearly a perfect skeleton of a gorilla presented by Dr. Otis of the Navy. 



The department of Geology had also been enriched by the addition of specimens show- 

 ing tracks of animals, purchased from Mr. Field of Greenfield. 



The Curator of Ethnology, the department of which had been recently formed, acknowl- 

 edged the reception of the various objects of art and manufacture presented to the Society 

 by the Boston Marine Society, as before mentioned. 



At the election of officers, Mr. S. H. Scudder was chosen Recording Secretary in place 

 of Dr. Samuel Kneeland, who had entered the service of the United States as surgeon in 

 the army. 



The office of Curator of Crustacea, made vacant by the resignation of Mr. Albert Ord- 

 way, who had also entered the army of the United States, was not filled. 



This year, so full of events gratifying to the* members and cheering to their hopes for 

 the future, did not pass without one that caused sadness in the hearts of all, but more par- 

 ticularly to such as had been associated in the work of the Society in its earlier years. 

 Reference is here made to the death of Dr. Benjamin D. Greene, which took place on the 

 14th of October, and which was announced to the Society on the 15th. 



DR. BENJAMIN D. GREENE. 



When the good and the wise participate in the formation and in the work of an institu- 

 tion, they leave an impress upon its character not to be effaced, whilst the memory of their 

 deeds is yet fresh in the minds of those who succeed them ; and as what they were, and 

 what they accomplished is not only a delight to contemplate but an inspiration to endeavor, 

 it becomes a sacred duty to extend and perpetuate a knowledge of their worth and labors. 

 It was the good fortune of the Society to have associated among its members at the period 

 of its origin and in its subsequent history, some of the noblest and purest minded men 

 that the community has produced. This is not expressed without due consideration, and 

 will not be questioned when the names of Dr. B. D. Greene, Rev. F. W. P. Greenwood, 

 Dr. John Ware, Dr. J. B. S. Jackson and Dr. Jeffries Wyman are recalled to mind as active 

 workers, to say nothing of many others whose attainments and deeds justly earned for 

 them the esteem and regard of all who knew them. 



Among those mentioned, none enjoyed the respect and love of contemporaries more 

 than the honored First President of the Society, Dr. Benjamin D. Greene, and a knowledge 

 of his virtues is only necessary to cause his memory to be revered by all who come after, 

 as long as the Society shall exist. It is to impart this knowledge that the following account 

 of him is given. 



Dr. Greene was born in Demarara, in 1793, during a temporary sojourn of his parents 

 there. In 1812 he graduated at Harvard College in the same class with Charles G. Loring, 

 Peleg Sprague, Henry Ware and others who became well known to public fame in later 

 days. After leaving Cambridge he studied law at Litchfield, Conn., where was then a well- 

 known law school, and was later admitted a member of the Boston bar. His subsequent 

 career cannot be better given than by quoting the words of a near and dear friend and 



