Miscellaneous. 507 



just to Sir C. Wyville Thomson, After carefully reading this letter, 

 now public property, I have no hesitation in stating that, unless a 

 meaning be placed upon the wording of one part of it which is 

 utterly irreconcilable with another, the sole responsibility for his 

 course of action rests with Sir Wyville Thomson. 



In this letter the specimens collected by the ' Challenger' ai'e 

 divided into two groups — the occasional, which do not bear 

 specially on the objects of the expedition, and those which are 

 *' the pieces justljicatives of a large part of the results of the investi- 

 gations of the ' Challenger.' " With regard to the disposal of the 

 .first set, it is stated, " They [the Council of the Royal Society] ai'e, 

 however, convinced that, both in the interests of science and in view of 

 economy, no arranyement could he better them that proposed by Sir 

 C W. Thomson ; according to which the work will be done by the 

 highest authorities in their respective subjects in the country, while the 

 naming of the specimens xvill involve no expense to the Governments^ 



The second and more important collection is recommended to be 

 dealt with as follows : — " They [the Council of the Royal Society] 

 hope that their Lordshijjs will see Jit to leave the collection mentioned 

 under 12 e in his (Sir W. C. T.'s) charge, to be worked out under his 

 direction." 



On turning to paragraph " 12e " I find the following : — " That 

 the ivhole of the remainder of the collection, including marine inverte- 

 brate animals, samples of the bottom, samples of water for physical 

 and chemical examination, remain under my charge as heretofore ; 

 my chief assistant, Mr. Murray, keeping a check-list of the whereabouts 

 of all the specimens placed temporarily for any purpose out of my 

 custody, so that, in case of my lapsing, he may be familiar tvith the 

 whole arrangement. That a complete type-series of all species be se- 

 lected by me as soon as they are determined and described and sent to 

 the British Museum; the duplicates remaining in my hands to be 

 afterwards distributed according to the instructions of their Lord- 

 ships." 



The letter, of which these quotations form a small part, was dated 

 December 8, 187(3. The Treasury then instructed Sir Wyville 

 Thomson. They will insert a sum not exceeding £4000 in the esti- 

 mates (1877-78) to provide for working out the collections included 

 in paragraph 12 e (see ante). 



It is not probable that the Treasury sanctioned Sir Wyville 

 Thomson's course of conduct ; and it is quite evident that no Govern- 

 ment would subsidize foreign naturalists to do the work of competent 

 British investigators. The conduct of the Government has been 

 most liberal ; and therefore, in supporting their patriotic wish to 

 advance science, it is absolutely necessary to thoroughly open up the 

 question of Sir Wyville Thomson's administration in its widest 

 sense. I wish, therefore, to inform you regarding the disposal of 

 the collections and the money. 



The Sea Mammals have been, or are to be, offered to Prof. Turner; 

 the Birds to Dr. Sclater ; the Fish to Dr. Giinther ; the Cephalopoda 



