Annual Report.] 164 [May 1, 
Annual Meeting. May 1, 1872. 
Vice-President Dr. Chas. T. Jackson in the chair, Thirty- 
three persons present. 
Prof. A. Hyatt presented his report as Custodian for the 
past year : — 
The first event of the past official year was of a most af- 
fecting and melancholy character. 
The Rey. J. A. Swan, Recording Secretary and Librarian, 
whose term of service endured but little over a year, died 
after a short illness on the 31st of October, 1871. The Society 
has never before, I believe, parted from one of its officers un- 
der circumstances which appealed so strongly to the sym- 
pathy of all its members. Though not possessed of a strong 
constitution, Mr. Swan was gifted with a singleness of pur- 
pose and the spirit of work to a degree which I have rarely 
seen equalled. His devotion to the interests of science and 
to the purposes of this Society, induced him to tax his physi- 
cal powers far beyond the safe limits of endurance. ‘This 
brought on the disease from which he had previously suffered, 
in an aggravated form, and deprived him of the means of 
resisting its ravages. Suffering and pain never interfered 
with the performance of his official duties, and we all remem- 
ber the courteous and almost affectionate interest with which 
he assisted every one. 
These rare qualities made him deservedly popular with the 
members of this Society, and endeared him to its officers, who 
mourned his death rather as friends parting from a dear 
friend, than as associates losing the companion of only a 
year’s standing. . 
Soon after this sad event Mr. F. G. Sanborn was elected as 
temporary Secretary and Librarian, and continued to perform 
the duties of this double office until the election of Mr. Hd- 
ward Burgess, the present incumbent. This necessarily with- 
