THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



169 



Colonial Sc<:n((t>i/\\ Oj/ia, 



Si/dnei/ \-i(h June, 18'J(). 



IT IS Excellency llie Governor directs it to 

 -A be notified iliai the followiri;^ Gentlemen 

 have been appointed " A Commiitee or Sui'nu- 



INTEDENCE OF THE AUSTRAI.IAN MuSEUM AND 



Botanical Garden," viz.: — 



The Honorable Alexander M'Leay, Esq. 



Sir John Ja-\uson, K.G.A'. 



Phillip Parker King, Esq. 



WiLLiAAi Macarthur, Esq. 



John Vaughan Thompson, Esq. 



Charles Sturt, Esq. 



Edward Deas Thomson, Esq. 



George Porter, Esq. 



Robert Andrew Waucii, Esq., ami 



George M'Leay, Esq. 



By His Exceliaicy'fi Commayid^ 



ALEXANDER M«LEAI 



The proclamation, published in the "Government Gazette," 

 appointing the first committee. 



in 1854 there \va.s held in the Museum 

 an exhibition of objects collected for the 

 "Universal Exhibition for Agriculture 

 and Industrial Products," Paris, 1855. 

 T'his preliminary display, which was 

 held in what is now the pahieontological 

 room, forms the subject of the frontis- 

 piece of this issue. 



The first committee controlling the 

 Museum and Botanical Garden consisted 

 of the Hon. Alex. Macleay, Sir John 

 Jamieson, Capt. P. P. King, R. N., Wm. 

 Macarthur, J. V. Thompson, Geo. Por- 

 ter, Hon. E. Deas Thomson, R. A. 

 Wauch, Geo. Macleay and Capt. C. 

 Sturt. The committee was fortunate in 

 having for its officers men like Dr. Geo. 

 Bennett, author of Gatherings and 

 Wanderings, Rev. AV. B. Clarke, 

 "Father of Australian Geology," Mr. W. 

 S. Wall, osteologist, whose brother Mr. 

 T. Wall, coUef-tor, perished through the 

 calamitous ending of the Kennedy Ex- 

 ploring Expedition to Cape York in 

 18-18, and Mr. G. F. Angas, author of 



"South Australia Il- 

 lustrated," etc. Re- 

 ference must be 

 made to William 

 Sharp Macleay, who, 

 as a committeeman, 

 and trustee, from 

 ]841 till 1802 con- 

 'ril)ute(l so indefatig- 

 al)ly to tlie success 

 of the institution. 

 His severance, due 

 to ill-health, was 

 keenly regretted by 

 his co-itrustees. 



In 1853 a sub- 

 committee appointed 

 to consider ([uestions 

 of constitution and 

 management report- 

 ed in favour of the 

 British Museum sys- 

 tem and advised its 

 adoption so far as 

 possible l)y the Aus- 

 tralian IMuseum. In 

 the following year, 

 1854, the matter of 

 a seal was consider- 

 ed and the design 

 shown was adopted. This year saw the 

 abolition of the committee of manage- 

 ment and in its stead was set up, under 

 an Act of Incorporation, amended in 

 1902. a Board of Trustees. 





1836, 



The seal of the Australian 

 Museum. 



In these early years there was as- 

 sociated with the Museum a menagerie, 

 but in 1854 the number of animals had 

 become too many for Mr. Wall to tend, 

 and tlie collection was accordingly dis- 



