lii PEOCEBDINGS OF THE 



OBITUAET NOTICES. 



The Secretary" then read the following Notices of deceased 

 Members : — 



On the present occasion the Linnean Society has to deplore 

 the loss by death of an unusual number of its Members, including 

 no less than eighteen Eellows, one Foreign Member, and two 

 Associates. 



And not only is the melancholy list numerically large, but it 

 is also extraordinarily heavy in containing the names of some of 

 the most distinguished of modern naturalists. 



Botanists will find in it the names of Hooker, Harvey, Lindley, 

 and Montague, whilst Zoologists have to lament the loss of 

 [Richardson, "Woodward, Eeeve, and Cuming. 



Such, losses in so brief a space have seldom, if ever, been re- 

 corded, — certainly not in the annals of this Society ; and our 

 regret is deepened by the consideration, that although some of 

 those whose loss we deplore may well be deemed to have done 

 their work and to have died in the full enjoyment of a well-earned 

 fame, others have been cut off in full activity, from whom the 

 most important contributions to science might have been expected 

 for many years to come. 



Hicliard DyTces Alexander, Esq., was born at Ipswich on the 

 15th of August, 1788, and died on the 23rd of December last. 

 He became a Fellow of this Society on the 2nd of April, 1822. 



He was the eldest son of the late Mr. Dykes Alexander, banker, 

 of Ipswich, in which town he passed the whole of his life. Ad- 

 mitted at a very early age a partner in his father's bank, his deli- 

 cate health, obliged him at the age of 40 to resign his partnership, 

 and he retired, satisfied with a moderate independence, to devote 

 his time, his money, and his powers to the duties of the Society 

 of Friends, of which he was a most distinguished member, and to 

 the prosecution of every good work amongst his feUow townsmen. 

 As an instance of his great zeal in all works of charity, it may be 

 mentioned that at one time, finding the medical wants of the poor 

 were sadly neglected, he entered upon the study, and acquired a 

 very respectable knowledge of medicine and surgery, — a know- 

 ledge which he put to practical use by opening a dispensary of 

 his own, where with generous kindness he afforded relief for many 

 years to numerous sufferers ; and in addition to this, the East 

 Suffolk Hospital was largely indebted to him for its erection and 

 support. 



