LIITCEAX SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



XV 11 



vested. I need not say that it lias always been my most anxious 

 wish that this important object should be as soon as possible attained. 



The independence of the Society and its free action can only 

 be secured by the possession of a fund on which to fall back in 

 case of any temporary suspension of prosperity, or of any contin- 

 gent call for unusual or unexpected expenditure. 



Although I Lave not thought it necessary to enter into any de- 

 tail of our own corporate acts, I think it will be interesting to you 

 to learn that in the completion of Mr. Bentham's ' Flora of Hong- 

 kong, 1 we have, I believe, the first example of a colonial flora 

 published under the auspices of the Colonial Secretary, with Gro- 

 vernment aid, and that the first volume of the ' Flora Capensis, ' 

 by Dr. Harvey and Dr. Sonder, has also been issued with the 

 assistance of the Cape G-overnment. It is much to be desired 

 that these examples of the publication of the Natural History of 

 our Colonies under the auspices of Government should be followed 

 out with a judicious and well-applied liberality. 



The spread of the love and study of natural history, and its 

 teaching by means of lectures and the formation of local mu- 

 seums, is as satisfactory in our English provinces as I last year 

 described it to be in Ireland. At Leeds, the sum of nearly £8000 

 has been raised for enlarging and improving the museum belong- 

 ing to the Literary and Philosophical Society, which, owing in 

 great measure to the efforts of the Rev. T. Hincks, is rapidly ac- 

 quiring importance. The collections there are both extensive and 

 interesting. Two volumes of t Transactions ' have been published in 

 former years. The County Museum at York is an admirable one, and 

 very useful lectures are delivered there. At Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 

 there is the nucleus of an excellent museum, "which," says my 

 informant, " is extending by the efforts of some energetic young 

 men, aided by a legacy from the late Robert Stephenson and 

 donations from Sir William Armstrong and others. There is also 

 a flourishing Microscopical Society, and other institutions having 

 more or less the object of the cultivation of natural history. " 

 The Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club is a society of very respectable 

 standing, and, as I have long known, admirably conducted. The 

 number of members was at Christmas last no less than 345, and it 

 is still steadily increasing. I have seen several parts of the ' Trans- 

 actions,' which are highly creditable, and no papers are published 

 but such as are strictly on local subjects. Similar institutions, 

 as I am informed, exist at Manchester and some other places. 



vol. vi. b 



