INAUGURAL ADDRESS 



ON 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF JAMAICA. 



By ROBERT NEWSTEAD, M.Sc, A.L.S., etc., 

 President. 



[Abstract.] 



In his opening remarks the President expressed his 

 warmest thanks to the Members of the Liverpool 

 Biological Society for the distinguished honour which 

 they had conferred upon him in electing him to the 

 Presidential chair for the ensuing year. In recalling the 

 names of the eminent men who had filled the office in 

 previous years, he felt somewhat diffident in accepting 

 the position which the members had bestowed upon him 

 with such flattering cordiality. 



The subject matter of the President's address was 

 based upon experiences gained during a stay in the Island 

 of Jamaica in the winter of 1908-9, while on a special 

 expedition sent out by the Liverpool School of Tropical 

 Medicine to study certain problems connected with 

 tick-borne diseases in cattle, and also other pests 

 connected with agriculture, etc. 



After briefly discussing the physical features of the 

 country and its chief geological characters, some of the 

 more striking plant-forms were described, among which 

 the curious Epiphytes (Bromeliaceae, etc.), the parasitic 

 plants (Cuscuta, etc.), and some of the beautiful legumes 

 may be mentioned. Some observations relating to the 

 insect fauna of Jamaica were of interest from a 

 bionomical point of view. 



