ANNALS OF PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE, xxiii 



Dr. F. Buchanan White, F.LS., F.KS., who was appointed the first 

 president. During the first three years the meetings were held in 

 the Glovers* Hall, George Street. During the next ten years, from 

 1871 to 1881, the home of the Society was in a modest upper room 

 in St. Ann's Lane, near the old church of St. John, which served as 

 lecture room, library, and museum in one. On 1st October 1881 

 the Society entered into possession of the fine building in Tay Street, 

 facing the river Tay and the Hill of Kinnoull, which has been its 

 home ever since. Here ample library and lecture room accommoda- 

 tion were provided, on the ground floor, with museum hall above. 



It has been the aim of the Society, from its very inception, to 

 make the natural history of the county its special study, and the 

 formation of a regional museum has been one of the means by which 

 it has endeavoured to carry out this aim. This was clearly defined 

 by the first president in his inaugural address, when he used the 

 following words : " As regards the formation of a museum, the 

 Society, while not neglecting to form a good general typical collec- 

 tion, should more especially devote itself to the acquisition of as 

 perfect a museum as possible of all the natural products of the 

 county." It was therefore thought desirable that the local collec- 

 tions should be entirely separated from the general collections, and 

 in 1895 a large and well-lighted hall with gallery was erected at the 

 back of the original building, and was opened on 29th November in 

 that year by the late Sir William H. Flower, Director of the British 

 Museum of Natural History. In this new building are displayed all 

 the collections representing the fauna, flora, and geology of Perth- 

 shire and the Basin of the Tay, the ground floor being devoted 

 exclusively to the vertebrate animals and the gallery to the inverte- 

 brates, plants, and rocks. The original museum hall now contains the 

 index or type collections. On 2nd December 1902 the museum was 

 formally handed over to the custody of the Town Council, but the 

 members of the Society still continue to exercise a fostering care 

 over the collections. 



During the thirty-nine years of the Society's existence, from 

 March 1867 to March 1906, the membership has steadily increased 

 from the original 15 to a total of 430, including one honorary 

 member, 15 corresponding members, 395 ordinary members, 12 

 associate members, and 7 associates, 



