“_Treasury Chambers, August 31, 1837._ “SIR, “It having been represented to the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, from various quarters, that great advantage would be derived to the Science of Natural History, if arrangements could be made for enabling you to publish, in a convenient form, and at a cheap rate, the result of your labours in that branch of science, my Lords will feel themselves justified in giving their sanction to the application of a sum, not exceeding in the whole one thousand pounds, in aid of such a publication; upon the clear and distinct understanding that the Work should be published, and the plates engraved, in such a manner as to be most advantageous to the Public at large, upon a plan of arrangement to be previously submitted to, and sanctioned by the Board, after consultation with those persons, who, from their attainments in this branch of science, are the most capable of advising their Lordships thereupon; and that the payments on account of the said sum of one thousand pounds are to be made to you from time to time, on a certificate that such progress has been made in the engravings, in accordance with the plan previously approved of, as to justify the issue then applied for. My Lords have therefore directed me to communicate to you the views they entertain upon this subject; and to apprize you that they will be prepared to act in conformity with their arrangement, upon learning from you that you are ready to proceed with the Work upon the principles above laid down, and upon receiving from you a statement of the manner in which you think the Work should be published, and the plates engraved, so as most effectually to accomplish the object my Lords have in view, in sanctioning the payment from the Public Funds, in aid of the expenses of the Work in question. “I remain, “Sir, Your Obedient Servant, “A. Y. SPEARMAN.” The object of the present Work is to give descriptions and figures of undescribed and imperfectly known animals, both fossil and recent, together with some account, in the one case, of their geological position, and in the other of their habits and ranges. As I do not possess the knowledge requisite for such an undertaking, and as I am, moreover, particularly engaged in preparing an account of the geological observations, made during the voyage, several gentlemen have most kindly undertaken different portions of the Work. Besides the very great advantage insured in thus enlisting the attainments of these Naturalists in the several departments of science, to which they have paid most attention, a great delay is avoided by adopting this method of publication, which must otherwise have been incurred before the materials could have been made known.