BINNEY, Amos, merchant and naturalist, t). in Boston, Massachusetts, 18 October 1803; died in Rome, Italy, 18 February 1847. He was graduated at Brown in 1821, and obtained a medical diploma in 1826, but engaged with success in commercial pursuits, devoting his leisure to natural science. He was a founder of the Boston society of natural history, and was its president from 1843 until his death, and was active in establishing the American association of geologists and naturalists. As a member of the Massachusetts legislature he was instrumental in securing the appointment of the zoological and botanical commissions, which resulted in the valuable reports of Harris, Emerson, Storer, and Gould on injurious insects, forest-trees, fishes, and invertebrate animals. To the "Journal " and "Proceedings" of the Boston society of natural history he contributed many scientific papers. He devoted many years to the study of American mollusks, and spent a large amount of money in preparing a treatise on the subject of land mollusks, sending exploring parties to Florida, Texas, and other regions, and employing skilful artists to make drawings and engrave plates. His" Terrestrial and Air-Breathing Mollusks of the United States" was published under the direction of Dr. A. A. Gould (Boston, 1847-'51). His son, W. G. Binney, became known as a conchologist.