148 
DAVIS: ?1UGH EDWIN STRICKLAND, F.R.S., ETC. 
Expressions of satisfaction and congTatulation poured in upon Strick- 
land from all parts, and it must have been gratifying to him, after 
the serious efforts he had made, to find that his classification was 
almost universally approved. The report forms the basis for zoological 
nomenclature, and its axioms have been widely and decidedly acted 
upon. In 1842, Edward Forbes sailed with the Surveying Expedition 
of H.M.S. "Beacon," under the direction of Captain Greaves, to the 
Mediterranean, and Strickland afforded him the benefit of his know- 
ledge derived from his journey in that district, and indicated to him 
the lines of research which might be followed out with advantage ; 
these were of considerable nse to Forbes during his investigations. 
A number of remains of fossil insects had been found in the Has of 
Warwickshire, and, in conjunction with the Rev. P. B. Brodie, he de- 
voted considerable time to their identification and relationship. 
He attended the meeting of the British Association at Cork, 
and contributed two papers, one on the Description of a Chart of 
the natural affinities of the incessorial order of Birds, and the other 
on the structure and affinities of Upupa, Linn and Irrisor, Less. The 
former exhibited the affinities of the allied organic forms diagramati- 
cally, and not only included the families and genera of the incessories, 
but showed their relationship to the whole class of birds. At the 
same meeting he was requested by the Committee of the Biological 
Section to draw up a report on the recent progTCSs and present state 
of ornithology. This report was written and read at the next meet- 
ing at York, and published in the reports of the association for the 
year 1848. With it was included the recent fossil ornithology, and 
the existing knowledge of the dodo was summarised. The research 
in connection with the preparation of this report enabled Strickland 
to gTasp more fully the desiderata in the classification and arrangement 
of birds. His collection also rapidly increased, and was supple- 
mented by correspondents in all parts of the world. 
It was in the year 1842 that Strickland mentioned to the 
Council of the British Association a project for forming a society for 
the publication of papers on natural history, which required illustra- 
tions rendering them too expensive for the ordinary proceedings of 
the learned societies. The proposal assumed a more definite form in 
