10 A DISCOURSE, &C, 



grcsSj dried plantsand useful descriptionsand ac- 

 counts of discoveiies made by hiin ia Natural 



Historj. 



Such was the state of tlie Society at the 

 change of Governmeüt in 181 1;, wben the dark 

 perspective was illiimined, and the talents 

 and ambition of the Society ap:aiii shone forth 

 from the obscurity in which poiitical eircum- 

 stances had involved \i. 



Without noticing partieularly the various 

 Essays which adorn the pages of the six volumes 

 of the transactions already published^ I shall 

 briefly observe that as far as my limited know- 

 ledge of the language enables me to judge, they 

 contain much oseful and intei^esting information, 

 partieularly on economical subjects materially 

 connected with the interests of Science and Lite- 

 rat ure. 



In the first volume will be found an interest- 

 ing description of the Dutch possessions in the 

 East Indies, and the transactions are replete with 

 various valuable tracts on agriculture, com- 

 merce, poiitical economy, and natural history^, by 

 Xvlessrs. BadermacJier, Van Hogendorp, Hootj" 

 mauy Van lp er en y Baron Van Wurmh, Con- 

 perus, Van der Steege^ Titsing, TessierCj Van 

 JBoeckhoUz, and others. 



