Proceedings of the Royal Society for the month of May, 1885.

The monthly meeting of the Royal Society of Tasmania was held on Tuesday evening, 12th May, Mr. James Barnard, V.P., in the chair, and several ladies were present. A very large number of Fellows were present. The following gentlemen, who had been previously nominated by the Council, were balloted for, and declared duly elected as Honorary Members of the society, viz. :—The Hon. William Mackay, F.L.S., M.L.C., etc., Edward Pierson Ramsay, F.R.S.E., F.L.S., "etc., etc., Curator Australian Museum, Sydney . In proposing the former gentleman the hon. secretary (Dr. Agnew) referred to him as one of the first naturalists in the colonies, to whom they were indebted for many favours. To the trustees of the Australian Museum and Mr. Ramsay, he said, they were under special compliment for valuable additions to their Museum. Mr. Ramsay had it in his power to be serviceable to them, and he had always exercised it in their favour. It was to the Trustees and him they were indebted for the valuable collection of New Guinea and other birds which were displayed on their table that evening.
The Chairman said he had, on the part of the council, to make the gratifying announcement to the Fellows of the society that since their last meeting they had received from the executors of the late Dr. Joseph Milligan a legacy of £350, which was to be devoted to furthering the various objects of the society. Although it was nearly 30 years since Dr. Milligan quitted Tasmania for Europe, he had nevertheless taken a vivid interest in the affairs of the society, and this had culminated in his final act of bequeathing such a handsome legacy to the institution he loved so well. Those who had the privilege of enjoying the intimate acquaintance of Dr. Milligan while he was secretary of this society would remember the zeal with which he threw himself into the advocacy of the building of the museum.Lieut. C. E. Beddome stated that no doubt the Fellows were aware of the large shipment of salmon ova which had arrived during the last few days, and which had been deposited at the Ponds, and he was happy to inform them that about 50,000 eggs were alive and looking well. Also included are additions to the Library, presentations to the museum and time of leafing, fruiting and flowering of a few standard plants in the Royal Societies gardsns during April, 1885