Dexter. | 
316 
[Nov. 4, 
Lawrence they are plentiful, with numerous other southern spe- 
cies, to the Bay of Chaleurs. The extinction of oysters, and of 
their southern associates, has been rapidly going on from Nova 
Scotia to Cape Cod since the earliest settlement of the country, 
due probably not so much to their exhaustion by being gathered 
for food, or to any and all other causes, as to a progressive re- 
frigeration of the sea ; and this seems referable, as before indi- 
cated, to changes in the volume and warmth of marine currents, 
which changes ultimately may have been caused by the former 
depression and present uplifting of the region of Bering Strait. 
Prof. G. L. Goodale in a brief account of some of the natural 
history museums of Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, de- 
scribed those at Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Hobart, 
Invercargill, Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland. 
As a whole they may be characterized as devoted to ethnology, the 
local faunae and Horae, and useful products ; the exhibits are well 
labeled, attractive and instructive ; they are well supported and 
recognized as essential in education. The tenacity with which 
the Australasian museums cling to all specimens of archaeological 
and ethnographical interest was highly commended. 
It was announced that on October 21st the Council elected 
Messrs. W. W. Castle, E. G. Conklin, W. W. Herman, F. H. 
Herrick, A. D. Morrill, E. E. Norton, E. W. Ricker, C. S. Sar- 
gent, W. C. Sturgis, and Miss Edith A. Parkhurst, Corporate 
Members, and Messrs. J. M. Forbes, C. P. Putman, J. J. Put- 
man, Roger Wolcott, and Miss H. E. Freeman, Garden Members. 
The following letter was read : 
Adirondack Mts ., Oct . 26th, 1891. 
Dear Sir : 
It is with great regret that I hereby offer my resignation 
as Secretary and Librarian of the Boston Society of Natural His- 
tory, as my health obliges me to spend the winter away from the 
city. 
Yours truly, 
[Signed] Samuel Dexter, 
To President Bost. Sue. Nat. Hist. $ ec . and Libr . 
