sideration of the newly appointed council, we felt that the names of the noblemen and gentlemen of whom that body is composed afforded an ample guarantee that the whole plan, unmutilated and uncurtailed of its fair proportions, would, sooner or later, be carried into execution. We question whether any society in England can boast such a list of names as the Council of the Ornithological Society contains. The Earl of Liverpool is President; the Duke of Bedford, the Bishop of Norwich (more dear to ornithologists as the Rev. E. Stanley), Sir Robert Peel, Macleay, Swainson, and Vigors, are the Vice-Presidents, all members of the Council; as are also the Earl of Derby, Dr. Burchell, Mr. Ridley Colborne, J. E. Gray, Captain Mangles, the Earl of Orkney, and Dr. Royle. What may not be expected and obtained from such men? Their very names are in themselves a host. We were present at the opening of the rooms in Pall Mall at the general meeting on the 3rd instant. In the absence of Lord Liverpool, Mr. Macleay, the father of British zoological science, took the chair amid the hearty applause of the meeting. He opened the proceedings in a short speech, in which, after congratulating the Society upon their attainment of the two most important preliminary objects, "a local habitation and a name," he briefly stated that the present condition of science required the establishment of an ornithological society; that the plan upon which this Society is projected was eminently calculated to further the interests of science and to produce practical advantages to all classes of the public; and that the Society might already be said to be firmly and permanently established. The Council then presented their Report, which was approved and ordered to be printed. Having obtained a copy we propose to give it entire, as it sketches the whole outline of the plan which the Council intend to execute :

"In pursuance of the resolution of the last general meeting, by which the scheme recommended by the Provisional Committee was referred to the Council, and the Council were directed to publish a short statement of the views of the Society, they proceeded to consider what portions of the scheme they could venture, in the then state of the Society, to carry into execution, and embodied them in the prospectus, of which each member has been furnished with a copy. The total number of members is now one hundred and seventy-four; and, considering that these members have been elected while the Society could hold out the inducement of prospective advantages only, there appears well-founded reason for anticipating a very extensive and powerful support from the public so soon as the

Society shall be in a condition to offer immediate and actual advantages to its members. The Council will endeavour, gradually and securely, to extend the basis of the Society, and to embrace, as their financial means may allow, the whole of the following objects, which they consider are obviously (in the words of the prospectus) legitimate objects of a National Ornithological Society, viz.: The free exhibition of living birds in the public parks; the introduction, breeding, and distribution (with a view to the naturalization) of all such foreign birds as are suited for domestication in preserves, poultry yards, and cages; the publication and patronage of scientific, popular, and practical works on Ornithology; the formation of an useful and interesting museum, and a standard ornithological library of consultation and reference; the institution of periodical meetings, lectures, and prizes for ornithological essays, and for the breeding of useful and ornamental foreign birds. The extent to which the Council will venture to attempt these objects, will depend entirely upon the means which may be placed at their disposal; they are confident, however, that the mere endeavour to accomplish such objects can hardly fail to be serviceable to Science, to be popular and attractive, and to be productive of practical utility. The Council have great satisfaction in stating that a considerable majority of the most eminent British ornithologists have promised their co-operation and support. So many members of the Society have offered donations, and loans of specimens for exhibition in the museum whenever it should be opened, and so important it appeared, in the present state of the Society, to bring the members as much as possible together, for the attainment of their common objects and the rapid extension of the institution, that the Council conceive that its interests would best be consulted by providing, without further delay, as good an accommodation for the meetings, museum, and library, as the circumstances of the Society would afford: they have, therefore, taken these rooms for a period of three months, renewable upon the same terms, viz. £140. per annum. They propose that (Sundays excepted) the rooms should be daily open to members and their friends from half-past nine till six, and that the museum and library should be always open, without restriction, to scientific persons and artists.-The Earl of Liverpool, as President, has appointed the following noblemen and gentlemen to be Vice Presidents of the Society, viz.: His Grace the Duke of Bedford, the Bishop of Norwich, Sir Robert Peel, Bart., M.P., W. S. Macleay, Esq., W. Swainson, Esq., and N. A. Vigors, Esq., M.P.-The Council have elected the Earl of Derby and Dr. Bur

chell Honorary Members of the Society and ex-officio Members of the Council, and it is concluded that there can be but one opinion of their eminent fitness for these appointments.-Mr. Holl has undertaken to act as Secretary, jointly with Mr. Harry Chester, until further arrangements can be made by the Council.-The Council are convinced that the real value of the Society, its usefulness, and means of permanent popularity, will depend mainly on the early acquisition of a valuable museum and library, and they strongly recommend that great efforts should be made to secure this important point: they, therefore, propose that a separate fund should be created for the express purpose of furnishing books, cabinets, and specimens of stuffed birds, skins, nests, eggs, skeletons, and anatomical parts and preparations to illustrate the habits and the internal and external structure of birds; that a book should be opened for "Subscriptions to the Museum and Library Fund,” and that the property acquired by these subscriptions should remain vested in the names of the subscribers until the general funds of the Society be sufficient to repay to the Subscribers the sums which might be advanced for this purpose. The Council confidently appeal to the liberality of the friends of the Society, to furnish in this manner the means of establishing it at once upon an honorable and advantageous footing. -In conclusion, the Council are anxious to impress upon the minds of the members that the popularity of the Society will be greater or less in proportion to the extension or contraction of its basis; that, by a judicious combination of the scientific, the attractive, and the practical, not only good will be effected, but the means of effecting it will be increased, and the support of all parties may be counted upon, from those who look to the improvement of the breeds of domestic poultry, to those who delight in the loftiest speculations of Science.-Books are opened at the Society's rooms for subscriptions to the museum and library fund, and for donations to the general funds, to the library, to the museum, and to the collection of living birds."

The reading of the Report was followed by a very interesting discussion of the various modes in which the institution might be made to work for the public good: for our own part it appears to us that all its objects are admirable. It proposes to unite all classes of ornithologists for the attainment of their common objects; and it has already united Mr. Vigors, Swainson, Macleay, Lord Derby, Stanley, Gray, Horsfield, Yarrell, Mudie, Sykes, Gould, Burchell, Richardson, Selby-why prolong the list? We have stated that the Earl of Derby and Dr. Burchell have been elected

honorary members: such appointments reflect equal honour upon the two parties. We hope that Dr. Burchell, in this well-deserved compliment, will perceive that he is not yet forgotten in the scientific world, which (alas for the interests of science!) he has of late too much deserted; and we hail his acceptance of this honour as a pledge that he will thrust his sickle into the harvest of knowledge which he possesses in his close-sealed collections; that he will do tardy justice to science, to his friends who are anxious for his fame, and (though last, not least) to himself.

The free exhibition of living birds in the public parks would alone stamp this Society with the mark of pre-eminent liberality. Our country friends can have little notion of the extraordinary interest which is created by the collection of aquatic birds in St. James's Park. On Sundays the banks of the lake are even inconveniently crowded with thousands upon thousands of people. It is, indeed, an attractive sight; the locale itself is particularly beautiful, and the numerous young broods that are just now upon the water add greatly to the interest of the scene. The advantages of introducing suitable foreign birds into this country are too obvious to be mentioned; they are exemplified in the Pheasant, Turkey, and Canary Bird. The publication of scientific and practically useful works on Ornithology will be a boon of incalculable value. With regard to the museum and library, we will only say we are glad that a foundation of each has been already laid, and we hope that the suggestion which Mr. Vigors made at the general meeting will be attended to, namely, that the Zoological Society should present their duplicate birds to the museum of the new institution.

The periodical meetings and lectures will be interesting, and in many ways useful; and in estimating the advantages of prize shews of birds we have only to refer to the analogous shews of the horticultural societies. You have exhibitions of fruit and flowerswhy not have exhibitions of birds? We must now take a quarter's leave of the Ornithological Society of London. May it never disappoint our expectations!

303

PROCEEDINGS OF PROVINCIAL SOCIETIES.

WORCESTERSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.

WE have great pleasure in recording the increasing prosperity of this Society, and the rapid progress it has made in promoting scientific inquiry in the several branches of Natural History. During the past session, a series of highly interesting lectures have been delivered on various subjects, including one by the Rev. John Pearson, on the Influence of Natural History on the religious and moral Character of Man, of which the following is an abstract:

After dwelling upon the frame of mind in which the study of Nature should be approached, the lecturer proceeded: "We are apt to speak of religious and moral influences as matters of course— as abstract principles which alone require to be known that they may be appreciated and adopted; we imagine that they are recommended by their own intrinsic weight and character, and that the mind necessarily prostrates itself before their consecrated shrine. Do we not deceive ourselves by the speciousness of this conclusion? Do we not too often fancy ourselves in possession of the feelings without sufficiently estimating the means by which they are to be obtained, and thus appropriate to ourselves a pharisaical conviction which deludes with the form rather than confers the substance? Do we not too often amuse ourselves with lights and shades under the impression that we grasp the reality? It is well known to the cultivator of the soil, that he can expect no produce unless he labours with a persevering and untiring hand; the mechanic, the artist, the man of science, know full well the impossibility of reaching excellence without due preparation and study. If thus it is in the ordinary attainment of perfection, may we not draw the same conclusion in relation to the influences upon the mind? Let us look to the untutored and unlettered barbarian. We are told that he

"Sees God in clouds and hears him in the wind."

This appears to rest more in the inspiration of the poet than in the realities of truth. Dependance upon a superior agency is one of the qualities of the human mind; but, in a state of Nature, how does man display its character? By falling down before a stock or a stone, a Vishnu or a Juganaut; thus idolizing the creature of his own invention, and propitiating his imaginary deity as the means of support in the pursuit of his unsubdued and unhallowed passions. * If then it shall be admitted that we require every aid and assistance in perfecting the intentions of the Deity, that it is our duty as our interest to prepare by cultivation and by industry for the reception of those truths revealed to man, where shall we find