THE VICTORIAN >fATURALIST. 39 



Miss Campbell ; rare eggs, by A. J. Campbell ; a beautifully 

 preserved specimen of the rare fossil shell, Cyprea conlusa, found in 

 the miocene limestone at Cheltenham, also many other shells and 

 fossils, by J. F. Bailey ; a fine collection of shells of the genus 

 Pecten, many of them being of beautiful colours, by J. H. Gatliff ; 

 rare fossils by J. E. Dixon and 0. A. Sayce ; a fine specimen of 

 the rare orchid, Caladenia suaveolens, found by D. Best at Berwick, 

 and being, according to Baron von Mueller, the second instance of 

 its being found in the colony. It would take up too much of your 

 time for me to enumerate even one-half of the exhibits, and this 

 must be my excuse for not mentioning the names of other 

 exliibitors. Considering its limited resources, the club cannot be 

 too highly complimented upon its usefulness, which would un- 

 doubtedly be greatly extended if the Government would only 

 ■extend to it some little liberality in the shape of a small annual 

 grant, and this the club still hopes to be fortunate enough to secure. 

 With the view of endeavouring to render itself even more widely 

 known than it is at present, the club has undertaken the publi- 

 cation of its transactions, and of the natural history of the colony 

 generally, under the title of the Victorian Naturalist, to which 

 C(^ntributions, either in the shape of subscriptions or natural 

 history notes, are earnestly solicited. The exhibits at the conver- 

 sazione this evening may not 1 e quite so numerous as on previous 

 ■occasions, but this is owing to the fact that several of our members 

 have been iniluced to send their collections to the present Inter- 

 colonial Exhibibition. A want long felt is now about to be 

 supplied. I allude to the nomenclature of our insects, so many 

 of which are unnamed, but the London Entomological Society, in 

 response to our application, has kindly consented to name any 

 ■specimens the club may send, and this offer will be certain to be 

 availed of very extensively." A short time ago I wrote a letter to 

 Professor M'Coj, which, with his answer, I will now read : — 



" 73 Chancery-lane, March 18, 1884. 



" My Dear Professor, — When I accepted the position of president of 

 the Field Naturalists' dliib, I thou,2;ht that I was merely stopping a gap till 

 the rules could be altered, and you replaced in your old chair. But I now 

 find myself face to face with what to me is a very grave difficulty. I have 

 to deliver the annual address at the meeting in April. Of course it is an 

 easy task, with the aid of our active and skilled secretary, to give a history 

 •Qi what the club has done during the past year, but the president's duty 

 should not scop at that point. He should he able to do what you have 

 hitherto done, namely, suggest the directions in which the energies of the 

 ■club should be directed in the coming year. He should be able to fairly 

 estimate the scientific worth of what has been done in the last 12 months, 

 jind tell the membsrs what to do in the future. As you hcve been such a 

 friend of the club hitherto I have taken the liberty of writing to you, not 

 so much to assist me personally out of a difficulty, but to give the club the 

 benefit of any words of advice which your profound knowledge of natural 

 science and natural history may suggest. As a man who has devoted his 

 life to these studies, you cannot but take an interest in anything which 

 may further investigation in subjects with which you are so familiar. I 



