150 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 



I stated eight mouths ago that I could do nothing with the geological 

 collection until cabinets were first provided ; these were accordingly 

 sanctioned by the Society, but ordered by the Secretary from a native 

 for less than he could afford to provide them ; the consequence is, 

 that they still remain unfinished. This is an instance of the ill effects 

 of leaving the Curator dependent on the Secretary, or any one else, for 

 things on which his own work depends ; and as the circumstance is 

 brought forward rather unfairly in the report of the Committee, I must 

 be permitted to say, that had any member of that body required an 

 easy chair, we may presume he would have obtained it at once from 

 the best cabinet-maker, cost what it might. 



" There is but one name attached to the report which can be at 

 all held responsible, in a scientific point of view, for the sentiments 

 embodied in it, and although Dr. Wallich may fairly be exonerated 

 from any great authority on the subject of Museums, yet his own ex- 

 perience ought to have suggested the difficulty of making monthly re- 

 ports on subjects connected with natural history, he himself finding 

 a single report too much to accomplish in the five years that have 

 now elapsed since his return from Assam." 



Directions for preserving Marine Objects of Natural History. 



During the expedition to China, there may be opportunities of adding 

 to the very scanty knowledge at present in possession of the scientific 

 world, regarding the productions of the eastern parts of Asia. A me- 

 morandum on the means of making collections of such objects as are 

 most likely to be met with in ships, and along the coasts, may therefore 

 be useful, especially to amateurs, who on such occasions may often be 

 in doubt as to the objects they should choose, since they cannot collect 

 all things that may offer. We are not aware that the marine plants of 

 the eastern seas have ever been examined, the following observations 

 on the method of collecting objects of this nature, may therefore be 

 useful. They are extracted from a very good paper on collecting sea- 

 plants, by Dr. Drummond of Belfast, in the Magazine of Zoology and 

 Botany, 1838. 



" The first object to be attended to in preserving marine plants is to 

 have them washed perfectly clean before spreading. There should not 

 be left upon them a particle of sand or other foreign body, unless in 

 some rare instance a parasitic species may be thought worthy of keep- 

 ing, on account of its rarity, or because it may add an additional beauty 

 to the chief specimen. It is a good practice to wash them before leaving 

 the shore either in the sea, or in a rocky pool, or, as is sometimes more 

 convenient in some localities, in a rivulet discharging itself into the 

 ocean, thotigh, as will be afterwards explained, the last practice proves 

 very destructive to the beauty of some species. 



