128 REPORT — 1859. 



two excellent volumes, prepared by their late venerable curator, Dr. Horsfield ; in 

 his task of preparing this catalogue he has been ably assisted by Mr. F. Moore, his 

 under-curator. The Derby Museum of Liverpool will soon, we may hope, follow 

 the same course ; it is a most valuable one, and contains many UDique specimens 

 from our early expeditions. Its curator is quite adequate to the task. The Museum 

 of the University of this city has, I am glad to say, been much improved, and a local 

 collection is far advanced. I may remark that museums of this class should not, 

 as is too often the case, attempt a general collection. The great object should be 

 to obtain typical specimens, so as to explain the arrangements and the geogra- 

 phical distribution of animal life ; afterwards a good British collection should be 

 brought together ; and, lastly, the local Fauna and Flora should be illustrated. 

 Aberdeenshire, from its extensive seaboard and a country leading inward to a great 

 elevation, is very rich in the variety of its productions ; some of its ancient animals 

 are already almost "forgotten," and what remain, from various causes, are rapidly 

 decreasing in numbers, and are becoming gradually extirpated. Another object 

 should be the illustration of any branch of industry or commerce for which the 

 district is celebrated, and here there is a wide Jield in the Arctic fisheries. But the 

 one great character of the present time is that of popular information — popular 

 works on all subjects. This is, no doubt, all in the right direction, and shows the 

 call for information ; but it may be overdone. False information is worse than noDe. 

 Some of our great principles cannot be studied against time, and diluted chapters 

 from authors of reputation sometimes neither give the truth nor the author's mean- 

 ing. These form a considerable staple in our weekly press. It is your duty then, 

 who are presumed to know something of the various branches you profess, to inform 

 and counsel and advise as far as you can the authors of those lesser works, when 

 they will take advice, and to endeavour that at least accuracy is carried out in their 

 endeavours to instruct others. 



Upon the continent of Europe the progress of Zoology and Botany has been steady, 

 and in our foreign possessions there is an advance. The melancholy events that have 

 occurred in India and her unfortunate position have given a temporary shock there ; 

 yet the scientific journals of that country, which have brought so much to light, 

 continue, and there is no country where we have been so much indebted to our 

 military, engineering and medical officers for physical information. Their names 

 would form a very long list. Col. Sykes, now attending this Meeting, deserves every 

 praise ; and among Scotchmen you have Elliot and Jerdan, M'Clelland and Adams, 

 — the latter an Aberdeenshire man, and who has brought many new objects of interest 

 to this country. In the younger countries we see advance more evident. Australia, 

 Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand, now that wealth permits leisure and 

 luxury, have attended to science, and in most of the journals of those countries 

 we have the papers of original observers, and by and by we shall have the results of 

 the study of the remarkable productions of these lands made where the animals and 

 plants live and grow. It is, however, in the New World where the greatest activity 

 at present prevails. She has already with credit to herself sent out scientific expedi- 

 tions of a general character, and those of Wilkes and Rae and Kane are well known, 

 and huge works have sprung from each ; the extent of territory now claimed by the 

 American people has given rise to surveys and exploratory expeditions, and these 

 are proceeding in all directions to fix the boundary lines, and the best railway routes 

 to the Pacific, — naturalists and draftsmen, in fact all the necessary staff, accompany- 

 ing each expedition, the results of which are published in reports to congress, in 

 which they are assisted by the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, — a remark- 

 able institution, supported by the munificent bequest of Mr. John Smithson, an 

 Oxonian. The publications for this year have been the third part of Dr. Hervey's 

 'Nereis Boreali Americana,' and the large volume (1005 pages) 'On North 

 American Ornithology,' by Messrs. Baird and Cassin. The reports are also 

 devoted to general science, and will be found to possess great interest. The work 

 of the greatest magnitude and importance to Natural Science in America, is 'Con- 

 tributions to the Natural History of the United States,' by Agassiz, originally 

 advertised to be completed in ten large volumes, but the subscription has so 

 well filled up as to allow its extension even beyond the contemplated limits. Two 

 Yolumes for the first year on the Testudinata or Tortoises, have been published, 



