xiv Address of Mr J. W. Clark, President, 



museum grew apace, under the fostering care of Professor Henslow 

 and his friends ; and the reading-room became more popular than 

 ever — a sort of club in fact — where many members of the Uni- 

 versity passed several hours of each day, reading and writing or 

 conversing with their friends. 



I will next quote an excellent account of the Society's Museum, 

 contributed by Mr Leonard Jenyns, in 1838, to The Cambridge 

 Portfolio. 



The Cambridge Philosophical Society has been employed from the 

 period of its first establishment in 1819, in gradually forming a 

 Museum of Natural History. With a view to this end, it has from 

 time to time effected several purchases, as well as received the con- 

 tributions of various donors. The Museum however is not large ; 

 partly owing to the limited funds which can be appropriated to its 

 support, and partly to the necessarily restricted space allotted for its 

 reception in the Society's house. It is principally, though not exclu- 

 sively, devoted to the illustration of the British Fauna. The foundation 

 of the Museum may be attributed to Professor Henslow, who presented 

 to the Society at its first institution his entire collection of British 

 Insects and Shells, arranged respectively in two cabinets. Several 

 smaller donations quickly followed, leading the Society to take an 

 increased interest in this part of its establishment. In 1828, a spirited 

 subscription was commenced amongst its members to assist in pur- 

 chasing a most valuable collection of British Birds, for obtaining 

 which an opportunity then offered itself. This collection had belonged 

 formerly to Mr John Morgan of London. It was extremely rich, 

 especially in the rarer species. Many additions however have been 

 since made to it ; and the whole forms now a range of thirty large 

 cases, which are placed round the principal room in the Museum. The 

 birds are beautifully preserved ; and the cases of sufficient size to admit, 

 in many instances, of containing entire families. One of the cases 

 contains British Quadrupeds. In 1829, the Society purchased a small 

 collection of British Insects which was incorporated with that pre- 

 viously presented by Professor Henslow. This collection, which con- 

 sisted of about 2000 species, was valuable from the specimens having 

 been arranged and named by Mr Stephens, the celebrated Entomologist 

 of London. Various additions in the same department have been 

 since made from time to time by different contributors. In 1833, the 

 Society purchased Mr Stephen's entire collection of British Shells, 

 contained in two cabinets and comprising a most extensive series of 

 species as well as of individuals of each. The Museum has been 

 further enriched, in the department of the British Fauna, by a collec- 

 tion of Birds' Eggs, presented in part by Mr Yarrell and in part by 

 Mr Leadbeater; — also by a collection of Fish, obtained principally on 

 the southern shores of the island by Professor Henslow and the 

 Rev. L. Jenyns ; — and by a small collection of marine Invertebrate/,, 

 obtained at Weymouth by the former of the two gentlemen last 

 mentioned. 



