81 



Thursday, December 21, 1854. 



Evening meeting. Rev. John L. Russell, Vice President, 

 in the chair. 



The list of donations to the Library and Cabinet was read 

 by the Secretary. 



An interesting statement in relation to the MSS. department 

 was made to the meeting by Henry M. Brooks, who said that 

 " within the past year the manuscript department of the Insti- 

 tute has been materially increased. Numerous old papers and 

 documents have been handed in by members and others, so that 

 our collection has become quite large and valuable. We would 

 remind our friends however that there can be no danger of its 

 ever becoming too large, and that their kindness or zeal in our 

 behalf need not be abated. Commissions or other papers, sign- 

 ed by Washington, Adams, Hancock and other worthies ; let- 

 ters written by Cotton Mather or Roger Williams, and men of 

 that class, — would be better cared for in the archives of the 

 Institute, than thrown aside as old and worthless in some lum- 

 ber room or attic," &c. &c. 



A copy of " Victoria Regia, or the Great Water Lily of 

 America, with a brief account of its discovery and introduction 

 into cultivation ; with Illustrations, by William Sharp, from 

 Specimens grown at Salem, Mass., U. S. A., by John Fisk 

 Allen," &c., &c., having been lately presented to the Library 

 by the author, Rev. John L. Russell took occasion to allude to 

 the plant and to the splendidly illustrated work of Mr. A. as 

 follows : 



A natural order of plants, called Nymphseacese, constitute 

 one of the most remarkable groups to be found in the Vegetable 

 Kingdom. Of great size, of elegant contour, of rich foliage 

 and of chaste, or else gorgeous blossoms, frequently accompa- 

 nied with fragrant odor, these flowers are the queenly sovereigns 

 of the waters. Pre-eminently conspicuous, the subject of 



ESSEX INST. PROCEED. 11. 



