154 
PROCEEDINGS OP THE PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OP NATURAL SCIENCE. 
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 
Colonel Drummond Hay, C.M.Z.S., then delivered his 
valedictory address as follows :— 
This year completes the sixteenth of the existence of 
the Perthshire Society of Natural Science, and has been 
the most eventful in its history. The purposes for which 
it was first instituted have been attained, and the fond 
hopes of the Society consummated, in the possession of 
a good local Museum for the edification and instruction 
of the people in the several branches of natural history. 
Thereby it is hoped it may be the means of cultivating 
tastes for enquiry and observation, as well as affording 
innocent occupation and recreation in the investigation of 
the natural objects around us. Perhaps no part of Scot¬ 
land can boast of a larger or a more varied share of these, 
or greater facilities of research, than are to be found, not 
only in the county of Perth, but in the vicinity of the city 
itself. Our noble river, and its neighbouring hills, and 
even our Inches, are productive of many a rare bird, 
insect, and plant. These are some of the reasons why the 
Society was formed, and why the Museum was built. As 
you are all aware, the late Sir Thomas Moncreiffe, for 
long President of this Society, took the deepest interest 
in the Museum scheme, and greatly may it be attributed 
to his exertions that the building is now an accomplished 
fact. It will, I am sure, be most gratifying to you to 
learn what the expression of opinion of sc’entific visitors 
from various parts has been, namely, that it is one of the 
best planned local Museums with which they are ac¬ 
quainted. The formal opening, which took place on the 
20th of December last, will be fresh in your memories, as 
also the advantage which was taken at the time of holding 
a Conversazione on that and the two consecutive nights, 
and in obtaining the use of the adjoining halls. These, 
together with the Museum, were all thrown into one for 
the occasion, and connected by means of a covered way, 
afierding facilities for carrying out the plans of the Com¬ 
mittee on an extended scale, and admitting of a magnifi¬ 
cent display of the most interesting, as well as instruc¬ 
tive, subjects in science, together with a large assortment 
of scientific instruments, and models of the more recent 
discoveries of the day. In the Museum rooms were ex¬ 
hibited the several collections illustrative of the fauna and 
flora of the county. Altogether, the success of the under¬ 
taking was proved by the large number of visitors who 
thronged the halls and Museum night after night, and 
by the great interest taken in the various departments. 
This also showed the wisdom of having built the Museum 
where it is; as, had it been elsewhere, as some would have 
persuaded, it would have been impossible to have held 
the Conversazione on such a scale, and perhaps, indeed, to 
to have had it at all. It may not be here out of place my 
quoting the opinion of one of the leading scientific journals 
(Nature) on the occasion, which is as follows:—“The 
enterprise of the Perthshire Society is exceptional, and 
they have reason to be proud of their Maseum, reading, 
lecture, and other rooms, all of which, we have no doubt, 
will be put to excellent practical uses.” This, I need 
hardly say, it will always be our endeavour to do. 
I must explain that the Museum, though open to the 
public, must not be supposed to be finished. I am glad, 
however, to say it is so far advanced as to be able to 
afford much instruction to the intelligent visitor. The 
desire of the Society is to make the Museum an instru¬ 
ment of education and instruction, and not a mere collec¬ 
tion of curiosities. It was with this view, as I have on a 
former occasion explained, that, in addition to the local 
Perthshire collections, it was resolved to have a Typical or 
Index Collection, explanatory in a concise form of the 
general scheme of classification, in the animal, vegetable, 
and mineral kingdoms. This has been done, and the 
Index Collection, which is mostly arranged on the upper 
tables, is nearly as complete as it can be in the space 
at present available for it, and the specimens have all 
been arranged and labelled. There are, however, still 
some vacancies in it, and to fill these, as also with a view 
some day of having more space for it, donations from 
any part of the world will be acceptable. 
Coming now to the other department, viz., the local, 
or Perthshire Collection, we shall glance at each section 
in succession, commencing with the zoological sections:— 
Mammals .—This collection is getting on, but of the few 
mammals that are natives of Perthshire several species 
are not yet represented. We trust, however, that it 
will soon be better, as specimens of some have been re¬ 
ceived (such as red-deer from Lady Willoughby de 
Eresby), but are not yet ready to exhibit. Attention 
in this department is particularly requested to the col¬ 
lecting of field-mice and voles, which, though common, 
are inconspicuous species that ought to be looked for. 
The desirableness of getting specimens of the rarer 
species, such as the wild-cat, martin-cat, &c., have been 
so fully brought before you in the Curator’s Eeport, that 
it is not necessary for me to say anything more on that 
subject. 
Birds. — Last year the number of species in the 
Society’s Collection was 125. It now amounts to 150, 
containing from one to several examples of each in 
various stages of plumage. Also, last year, the total 
number of species given in the district list, inclusive of 
