158 Natural History in the Efiglish Counties. 



hatched seven young ones, which grew to the size of pheasants ; but then 

 they and their mother died, it was supposed, from exposure to the sun. The 

 cock was turned out, and lived two years in the fir plantations ; he was then 

 killed accidentally. The gentleman who made the attempt intends to renew 

 it, and has much expectation of final success. 



I shall be glad if these facts be considered worthy of a place in your 

 interesting Magazine. I am. Sir, yours, &c. — A. G. Jan. 5. 1830. 



Norfolk and Norwich Museum. — The Fifth Annual Meeting of this Institution was held in the 

 Society's Rooms, in Norwich, on Nov. 25., Dawson Turner, Esq., having taken the chair, addres.«ed 

 the subscribers to the following effect : — 



"As this is the first opportunity which has been allowed nae of meeting you, I trust that, before 

 we proceed to the business of the day, I shall be permitted, for a few moments, to trespass upon 

 your time, chiefly for the purpose of returning you my thanks for the honour you have done me 

 in electing me to this chair. 1 do assure you that I very deeply feel, and very sensibly appreciate, 

 the distinction thus bestowed upon me; for it is virtually nothing less than nominating me to be 

 the head of the naturalists of this opulent, enlightened, and scientific county : and, when I speak 

 of Norfolk as a county distinguished for the love and the pursuit of science, I am by no means 

 using words of course, or wishing to flatter the self-love of you or my fellow-countrymen at the 

 expense of truth. I do, indeed, feel that Norfolk is deserving of such an epithet. 1 remember, 

 about thirty years ago, being in company with one of the most distinguished naturalists of Europe, 

 and at the same time with a botanist from a distant part of England, who had been upon a visit in 

 Norfolk. The former, congratulating the other upon what he had seen and gathered, observed 

 that there must of necessity be some singular advantage in the soil, the climate, or the position of 

 Norfolk, which made it so celebrated as abounding in the rarer productions of nature; and was 

 not a little astonished when told that, on the contrary, Norfolk was one of the districts of England 

 the least favoured in those respects, and that any preeminence she might enjoy was altogether 

 owing to the industry and talents with wtiich her resources had been investigated and developed. 

 Such an assertion is certainly startling at first ; but when I call to mind that, in the short space of 

 my own life, I have known and associated with such men as Sir James Smith, Mr. Crowe, Mr. 

 Woodward, Dr. Rigby, Mr. Whitear, Mr. Burrell, Mr. Bryant, Mr.Wegg, Dr. Hooker, Professor 

 Lindley, and very many others whose names have at this moment escaped me, all of them natives 

 of, or residents in, Norfolk, its probability will be easily admitted and its truth acknowledged. With 

 regard to the value and importance of museums in general, I feel that it would be entirely out of 

 place to attempt to enlarge upon a point so universally admitted and so fully appreciated by every 

 gentleman present. As a centre of union for men of taste and science ; as a receptacle for objects 

 which would otherwise be neglected or dispersed or lost, or, if neither lost, dispersed, nor neglected, 

 would be hidden in the obscurity of private houses; as the means of forming the minds of the 

 young to pursuits the most worthy, by exciting their curio-^ity, and teaching them the value and 

 the pleasure of mental cultivation ; and as a most delightful source of information to men of every 

 age, who hence acquire more exalted ideas of their Creator, and learn, more and more, to look 

 through Nature up to Nature's God : in all these, and in many other respects, the value and the 

 importance of museums are neither to be denied ncr doubted. With respect to our own museum, in 

 particular, I feel there is the strongest room for our self-congratulation. It is, indeed, an infant 

 m years, but, in growth, it has attained a degree of maturity which is really surprising. When 

 I look about me, and see the various objects of art and of nature with which I am surrounded, I 

 cannot but be impressed with the greatest thankfulness, first to the extended patronage of the 

 public ; then to the numerous gentlemen who have favoured us with donations ; and the last, not 

 least, to the labour of the committee who have directed this establishment. In speaking of the 

 exertions of this committee, it is not necessary for my expressions of gratitude to be checked by 

 any false delicacy ; for I cannot be supposed to be arrogating any merit to myself: I joined them 

 only at the twelfth hour ; in time, indeed, to see and to appreciate the value of their labours, but not 

 to take a part in them. Indeed, during the last year or two, it might at first view be supposed that 

 their labours had been, in a great degree, relaxed ; for the committee had felt it their duty to 

 abstain from making any purchases, or even from taking steps to display a considerable portion of 

 what we possess, feeling it a paramount duty to apply themselves mainly to the extinction of the 

 debt which, but two years ago, hung over us as an incubus, and threatened our destruction. This 

 debt is now happily reduced from 400/. to little more than 50/. ; and, in the course of two years, 

 will, without any extraordinary effort, be altogether annihilated. The rather have I cause to con- 

 gratulate you upon the present state of the Institution, which no one of us could have expected at 

 its outset to have seen in the present flourishing condition ; and of which I must be allowed to say, 

 as the poet of the Jerusalem Delivered of his favourite hero, but 



" L'eta precorse e la speranza e i fiori 

 Presti furean, quando n' usciro i fioretti." 



Again to advert to myself, I am the more flattered by the situation in which I am placed, inas- 

 much as I am the successor to one who was confessedly the first-rate naturalist, not only of Nor- 

 folk but of England, and not only of England but of Europe. With Sir James Smith I had the 

 happiness oF maintaining an uninterrupted friendship for thirty years ; I esteemed and I loved him 

 whilst alive; and, so long as I myself shall live, I never shall cease to dwell with affectionate 

 regard ujwn his memory. Whether in public or in private life. Sir James Smith was a man who 

 was highly estimated. His talents and his time were always devoted to the public, and always to 

 doing good. By his works he has erected to himself an imperishable monument ; and upon every 

 occasion, in these works, he has uniformly studied to promote the happiness of mankind and the 

 glory of Gpd. As possessor of the Linnean Herbarium, his conduct was at all times eminently 

 liberal, opening its treasures, without reserve, to men of every rank and station, and of every 

 clime. As founder and president of the Society which equally bears the name of the great LiH- 

 naeus, his amiable and condescending affab lity won him the regard of every member of that body, 

 whilst that establishment gave a character and a permanency, and an importance to the study of 

 natural history in England, which it could not otherwise have attained. While proud to be his 

 successor, I feel how much. I must suffer in comparison with such a man ; but I will not pay you 

 so ill a compliment as to dwell on my unworthiness to occupy his chair. It is sufficient for me 

 that you have thought fit to elect me to it ; and my endeavour shall not be wanting to discharge 



