Obitnarij. 645 



and Kites iu the interior, and gathered many bird-skins, 

 returning to London at the end of Marcli. 



At tliis time jNIr. D. W. Mitchell, Secretary of the Zoo- 

 logical Society, was al)out to vacate his post, in order to take 

 charge of the newly instituted Jardin d'Acclimatatiou iu 

 Paris. As his successor Sclater was selected by Oweu and 

 Yarrell, then influential memtjers of the Council, and was 

 unauimously elected at the Anniversary Meeting on April 

 30th, 1859. 



He found it necessary for several years to devote him- 

 self entirely to the reorganization of the affairs of the 

 Society. The ' Proceedings ' and ' Transactions ' were at 

 that time several years in arrcar — they were brought up 

 to date ; tlie ' Garden Guide,^ which was out of print, was 

 re-written ; the large staff at the Gardens was re-ai-ranged 

 and divided into departments under the Superintendent, and 

 various other reforms were introduced. 



In 1874, when his brother (then the Right lion. George 

 Sclater-Booth, M.P., and afterwards Lord Basing) accepted 

 office in Mr. Disraeli's administration as President of the 

 Local Government Board, Sclater became his private 

 secretary, a position which he occupied for two years. But 

 when subsequently offered a permanent place in the Civil 

 Service he declined it, because he could not make up his 

 mind to give up his dearly loved work in natural history. 

 His most engrossing duties were in connexion with tlie 

 Zoological Society of London, to which, as principal 

 executive Officer, he, of course, devoted most of his time. 

 It is conceded by all that its affairs prospered well under 

 his direction. The number of Fellows of the Society, about 

 1700 in 1859, increased to over 3000. The income of the 

 Society, which in 1858 was a little over £14,000, rose to 

 .€30,000. Besides this, nearly all of the principal buildings 

 in the Society's Gardens were rebuilt and fitted up with 

 everv sort of modern convenience for animals. The old 

 Office-building (No. 11 Hanover Square) was sold, and was 

 replaced by a much larger and more convenient house 

 (No. 3 Hanover Square) in the same vicinity. A debt of 



SER. X. VOL. I. ^ X 



