64 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



selected to preside for twelve months over such a club as ours, 

 it struck me that there are many of the present members who 

 know little of the past history of our organization, and that some, 

 even of the pioneers, who still remain with us, would not be 

 averse to having some of our earlier doings recalled. I have 

 ventured therefore to put on paper a brief history of the Club 

 from May 1880 to May 1905, when it completed its twenty-fifth 

 year. 



" Twenty-five years is a long time to look forward, and I think 

 I am right in saying that none of the promoters of the Club — and 

 I am pleased to say some of them are present to-night — had the 

 faintest hopes that the society they were starting would live to 

 celebrate its twenty-fifth birthday. However, that is now a thing 

 of the past, and I can only hope that some of those present to- 

 night will remain faithful to the Club and live to see the jubilee 

 meeting in May 1930. 



" Though not one of the promoters of our Club, it has been 

 my lot to have been intimately acquainted with its history ever 

 since its inception, and it is on that account that I have ventured 

 to thrust myself upon you as its first historian. 



" To our old friends, Messrs. C. French and D. Best, belong 

 the honour of taking the first step towards the foundation of our 

 society. In response to an invitation issued by them, about thirty 

 gentlemen met in a room at the Melbourne Athenaeum on 

 Thursday evening, 6th May, 1880, when Dr. T. P. Lucas, an 

 ardent lepidopterist, was voted to the chair. The doctor had had 

 experience of similar organizations in England, and after ex- 

 plaining the objects of the proposed society it was unanimously 

 resolved that the attempt be made, and a provisional committee, 

 consisting of the chairman (Dr. Lucas), Messrs. D. Best, C. 

 French, J. R. Y. Goldstein, E. Howitt, W. T. Kendall, and 

 H. Watts, was appointed to draft rules and report to an 

 adjourned meeting on an early date. 



"This meeting was held on Monday evening, 17th May, also 

 at the Melbourne Athenaeum, and was attended by about the 

 same number as the preliminary meeting. The rules drafted 

 were few and simple, the subscription being fixed at ^en shillings, 

 so as to be within reach of all, and, after a slight discussion, were 

 duly adopted, and the election of the first ofiice-bearers then 

 took place. 



" Entomology probably having the most weight among those 

 present led to the election of the late Prof M'Coy, Professor of 

 Zoology at the University, as our first president, with the Rev, 

 J. J. Halley and Dr. T. P. Lucas as vice-presidents. Mr. Edward 

 Howitt, one of a prominent family in the early literary and 

 scientific history of Victoria, was elected hon. treasurer, and 

 our well-known member, Mr. D. Best, was rightly chosen 



