1888 .] 
39 
[General Meeting • 
their new home must have fallen upon Dr. Kneeland, who thus en- 
tered upon his duties at a time of remarkable activity in the Society. 
From 1849 to 1854 he was the curator of comparative anatomy, 
and in 1856, and again in 1858 and 1859, he was elected curator of 
the department of fishes, in which office it was my honor to follow 
him, he having been elected recording secretary in May, 1858, which 
office he held until 1862, when he resigned to become the third of 
the noted ninety-eight members of the Society who are recorded by 
Mr. Bouve as taking honorable part in the war of the rebellion. 
Dr. Kneeland entered the service of his country as Surgeon of 
the forty-fifth Mass. Infantry and attained the rank of Brevet Lieut. 
Colonel. Before 1862, however, the rooms in the building on Ma- 
son street had become inadequate to the wants of the Society and 
the building was sold and the collections and books removed to the 
house in Bulfinch street which Dr. Walker had given to us. In this 
work Dr. Kneeland took a laborious part, and he occupied the house 
with his family as custodian of the property of the Society. Dur- 
ing this time active work was going on in relation to a new build- 
ing ; plans were discussed and appeals made to the state for a grant 
of land. As the results of this labor we have our present build- 
ing and for this we are in part indebted to Dr. Kneeland, who as 
secretary at the beginning of the work certainly did his portion. 
After the war Dr. Kneeland again took an active interest in the 
Society, and until 1878 was a member of the Council. In 1869 he 
Was one of the small committee to arrange for the celebration of 
the centennial anniversary of the birth of Humboldt. This cele- 
bration was most creditable, and we all know of Agassiz’s address 
on that occasion, when Music Hall was filled ; and of the reception 
in Horticultural Hall and the banquet tendered by the city which 
followed. To Dr. Kneeland belongs a full share of the labor and 
success of the remarkable celebration. 
Under the arrangement made between the Society and the Institute 
of Technology, in 1870, Dr. Kneeland delivered a series of lectures 
upon Zoology in this lecture room, he being at that time an offi- 
cer in the Institute. As professor of Zoology, and one of its sec- 
retaries he was connected with the Institute of Technology for ten 
years, from 1866-1876. 
The records show that Dr. Kneeland was a generous contributor 
to our museum and library : that he often took part in our meet- 
ings, and presented numerous papers, is evident from our printed 
proceedings. We also know that he was an easy and prolific writer, 
