270 GEOEGB JOHN EOMANES 1890- 



Again, it seems needless to remark that England 

 ought to be regarded as the natural territory of an 

 establishment of this character ; that the establish- 

 ment itself should be situated in the vicinity of others 

 which are already devoted to the study of morphology 

 and physiology ; and that sufficient land should belong 

 to the Institut to admit of plots of ground being set 

 apart for researches on plants, as well as buildings 

 for the accommodation of animals. 



In order to satisfy all these conditions, the Institut 

 ought to be estabUshed either in Oxford or Cambridge ; 

 and at least, one skilled naturalist, one competent 

 gardener, and one trustworthy keeper ought to be 

 resident. This would involve an annual expenditure 

 of between 300Z. and 400Z. But the capital sum 

 which would have to be sunk in the purchase of land 

 and the erection of buildings would not be consider- 

 able ; because, in the first instance, at all events, two 

 or three acres of ground would probably be sufficient ; 

 while the animal houses would be chiefly —if not ex- 

 clusively — required for the accommodation of small 

 mammalia, birds, insects, and aquatic organisms. 



Nevertheless, seeing that an initial expenditure 

 of at least 1,000Z. would be needed for the purposes 

 just mentioned, as well as an annual income of at 

 least 400Z., and seeing that even this much money is 

 not likely to be forthcoming for objects of a purely 

 scientific nature, the scheme on behalf of which we 

 solicit your opinion is the following. 



From inquiries which we have made here, we 

 think it is probable that the University would take 

 up the matter, or, at any rate, render important 



