BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 91 



" Such tastes and labors as marked the life of our late colleague are the exception, and 

 we are therefore especially called on to honor the memory of him who furnished so beauti- 

 ful an example. But qualities still more rare characterized the pursuits and conversation 

 of Dr. Greene. No one could fail to remark his singular freedom from the ambitious 

 impulses which, whilst they stimulate the labors of men of science, so often dim their aspi- 

 rations for what is true and beneficent. With him the love of knowledge was a sufficient 

 incentive and adequate reward. Delighted to store his mind with the beautiful truths 

 gathered from the ample sources around him, and ever ready to help others devoting them- 

 selves to kindred branches of inquiry, and indeed to any scientific pursuits, his singular 

 modesty shrank from the least public exhibition of his various knowledge, and in the eyes 

 of those who knew his solid and diversified culture, gave to his social character its most 

 peculiar and winning charm." Professor Rogers closed by offering the following resolutions : 



" Resolved, That while it is the duty of the Society to hold in grateful recollection all who 

 at any time have participated in the labors or helped to enlarge its means of scientific use- 

 fulness, it is under especial obligations to honor the memory of the founders and early 

 patrons of the Society, whose earnest zeal gave the first strong impulse to the pursuit of 

 natural history in the community, and whose liberal contributions and fostering care laid 

 • the foundation for those labors which have won for the Society an honorable place in the 

 history of scientific investigation. 



" Resolved, That the Society, while deeply regretting the loss which it has sustained in 

 the death of its late associate, Dr. Benj.D. Greene, has a sad pleasure in placing on record 

 an expression of its grateful and enduring reverence for his memory as one of the most 

 zealous of its founders and its first acting President, and as one of the most liberal of the 

 patrons and co-workers of the Society. 



" Resolved, That in expressing our sense of the great value of the services of our late asso- 

 ciate in this Society, and of his work as a cultivator and promoter of natural science, we 

 would dwell with affectionate interest on the gentle graces of character for which he was 

 remarkable, and especially on the shrinking modesty and reserve which veiled so beauti- 

 fully the knowledge and culture they were unable to conceal." 



Nov. 19th, 1862, by vote of the Society, the names of all persons who had contributed 

 one hundred dollars or upwards towards the erection of the new building, were entered in 

 the records as Patrons. 



1863. In April of this year there arrived from London casts from the bones of the 

 Megatherium in possession of the British Mviseum, presented by Joshua Bates, Esq. These 

 were subsequently mounted by Mr. George Sceva, under the direction of Dr. James C. 

 White. The huge animal form thus reconstructed has since been one of the most striking 

 features of our main hall. 



At the annual meeting in May it was announced that the Society had been the recipient 

 of a bequest of |9,000 from our late associate and first President, Dr. Benjamin D. 



Greene. 



The Treasurer's Eeport showed receipts of $72,507.76, and expenditures $61,224.31, 

 leaving in his hands $11,283.45. Of the receipts $46,267 had been paid in especially for 

 building purposes, and of the expenditures $58,685.75 had been paid towards the new 

 building. 



