| Description | Foster states that the President and Council of the Royal Society have had brought to their attention that under existing regulations the transmission of specimens of natural history by post to countries in the Postal Union cannot be rated as samples of merchandise and therefore must be paid for as letters, and that at the last Postal Conference the British Government voted against a proposal for the transmission of specimens to be charged at the same rate as merchandise samples.
The Royal Society wish to assure Morley that the transmission of such specimens between observers of different countries or districts is an important means of scientific enquiry, as scientific conclusions can depend on careful examination and comparison in one place of specimens from different areas. The letter rate, being ten times that for samples of merchandise, is practically prohibitive of the transmission of such natural history specimens. They therefore urge Morley to consider the great assistance to scientific inquiry which would result from the proposed change in the rate, and express the hope that if the question is raised at the next conference, that the British Government will give this serious consideration. |