166 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE 



necessary means for their purchase. By good fortune Mr. Hyatt was able to buy the very 

 valuable collection of Oberfinanzrath Eser of Stuttgart. This was very rich in the fossils 

 of the Tertiary, Secondary and Triassic periods, and also contained a fair representation of 

 the Carboniferous, and some of the Devonian and Silurian types. All these had been 

 selected with great care, and Herr Eser had expended the leisure hours of nearly forty 

 years in accumulating them. 



Speaking of this collection, the Custodian remarked that the " unique specimens which 

 it contains are both remarkable and numerous. Many of these were found during the 

 building of the extensive fortifications at Ulm, and were selections from all the fossils 

 obtained, which were sent by the chief architect to Herr Eser. The most valuable single 

 series consists of the two head pieces and detached bones of Belodon Campbelli, the only 

 remains of this remarkable animal ever found. There are specimens of tertiary plants, 

 which are of such delicacy that they are mounted like botanical specimens on paper." 



Besides the collection mentioned, Mr. Hyatt purchased also while abroad, through the 

 generosity of Mr. Cummings, several large specimens for the Palaeontological department 

 quite essential to it, among the species several Ichthyosauri and Teleosauri, and a magnifi- 

 cent plate of the expanded species of the Pentacrinus Briarius. 



A splendid collection of Devonian fossils collected near Ithaca, New York, had also 

 been added to the Palaeontological series, partly by donations of Mr. John Cummings 

 and Mr. Thos. T. Bouve, and partly by purchase. 



The illness of Mr. Sprague had interrupted work in the Entomological department. It 

 was reported by Mr. Emerton, free from destructive insects. Dr. Carpenter had continued 

 work on the Mollusca. To the Comparative Anatomy department a prepared skeleton of 

 a horse mackerel had been added. Work on the Fishes had been begun by Mr. Putnam, 

 Chairman of the Ichthyological Committee. 



The Ornithological collection had been frequently inspected through the year. It was 

 reported as free from insects. Considerable work had been done in the Botanical depart 

 ment by Miss Carter, employed at the expense of Mr. John Cummings, to inspect and 

 arrange the duplicates. 



During the year five Corresponding and thirty-one Resident Members had been elected. 

 There had been seventeen general meetings of the Society, eight of the section of Ento- 

 mology, and seven of the section of Microscopy. 



The plan of notifying each member by postal card of the general meetings and of the 

 papers to be read at each, adopted in the autumn, had been attended with great success. 

 The numbers present since Oct. loth, have averaged sixty-four, whereas the average num- 

 ber the previous year was but twenty-five. The greatest number of persons present at 

 one meeting was one hundred and twenty-four, the largest Society meeting ever held in 

 this building. 



Only one course of the Lowell Institute Lectures was given. This was by Dr. Thos. 

 Dwight, Jr., upon living animal tissues. 



The disastrous effects of the great fire of November, 1872, had prevented the contin- 

 uance of the lectures to teachers, so generously provided for hitherto by Mr. John Cum- 

 mings. 



