21 



Library ConxmUles —V^micl A. Wliitej Geoxge B. LoriMg-, 

 Samuel P. Fowler. 



Publication Committee-— J aim. L. Rmssell, Henry Wlieat- 

 land, George B. Phippea. 



Curaioi^s of the Historical Department. 'On Etteology 

 — John G. King. William S. Messervy, Matthew A. Stickney, 

 F. H. Lee. On MSS.— Henry M. Brooks, L. E. Sto^ne. 

 On Fine Arts — FraEcis Peabody, J. G. Waters. 



Curators of Natural History. In Botany— John L. Bus* 

 sell. In Mammalogy— Frederick Winsor. In Ornithology 

 — Frederick W. Putnam. In Herpetology— Charles E. Wa- 

 ters, Charles J. Lee. In Ichthyology— Richard H. Wheat- 

 land. In Comparative Anatomy — Henry Wheatland. la 

 Articulata — Caleb Cook. In Mollusca — Henry F. King. In 

 Radiata — Geo. A. Perkins. In Mineralogy- — Benjamin F. 

 Mudge. In Geology — Henry F. Shepard. In Paloeontology 

 ■ — Henry F. King. 



Curators of Horticulture. On Fruits and Vegetables-^ 

 James Upton, Robert Manning, John F. Allen, Charles F. 

 Putnam. On Flowers — John C. Lee, Francis Putnam, Wil* 

 liam Mack. On Gardens — John L. Russell, John Q. Lee. 



At a previous (evening) meeting, held May 12, 1856, Rev. 

 John L. Russell read a letter, received from the Rev. Thomas 

 W. Higginson, respecting a fine specimen of the Norfolk 

 Island Pine {Eutassa excelsa), introduced several years ago, 

 into Fayal, Azores. Extracts from this and from subsequent 

 correspondence are here inserted. 



" Horta, Fayal, March 1, 1856. The very first day'* (of 

 arrival) " I asked about your Araucaria, and have often since 

 enjoyed its elegant beauty. It is the tallest tree in Mr. Dab- 

 aey's gardens, but looks as if destined to grow much more than 

 its present height of sixty feet, as its trunk tapers rapidly from 

 bottom to top ; still it loses in its growth the protection from 

 the salt breeze, which it first had. It has produced seeds for 



