394 Memoir of William Ma dure. 



ed to meet once in every week for the purpose of conversing 

 on scientific subjects, and thus communicating to each other 

 the results of their reading, observation and reflection. 



Although Mr. Maclure was absent from the city at the 

 initiatory meeting, he had no sooner returned than his name 

 was enrolled on the list of members ; and from that hour, 

 and with this circumstance, the prosperity of the institution 

 commenced. Arrangements were soon after entered into 

 for the delivery of courses of lectures, chiefly on Chemistry 

 and Botany ; and the library and museum were at once re- 

 plenished with books and specimens from Mr. Maclure's 

 European collections. 



On the 30th of December, 1817, Mr. Maclure was elected 

 President of the Academy ; to which office of confidence 

 and honour he was annually re-elected up to the time of his 

 death, a period of more than twenty-two years. 



Under his auspices the Journal of the Academy (which 

 now numbers eight octavo volumes) was commenced with 

 energy and talent ; and such was his interest in its progress, 

 that a considerable portion of the first volume was printed 

 in an apartment of his own house. 



Among the most ardent of Mr. Maclure's colleagues at 

 this time was Mr. Thomas Say, a gentleman who united in 

 a remarkable degree the love of science and the social vir- 

 tues. Enthusiastic in his favourite studies, and possessed 

 of a singular tact for detecting the varied relations of orga- 

 nized beings, he early attracted the notice and secured the 

 esteem of Mr. Maclure ; and the friendship which thus grew 

 up between them, continued unaltered by time or circum- 

 stance to the end of life. How much the Academy and the 

 cause of Natural History owe to the united efforts of these 

 gentlemen, I need not declare ; for not only here, but wher- 

 ever their favourite pursuits are loved and cultivated, their 

 names will be inseparably interwoven with the records and 

 the honours of science. 



