137 

 PEEST DENT'S ADDRESS. 



^]u. Ft. B. Whvtk. 



{Delivered, 8lh Lee, 1S87.) 



Members of the Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club, Lidies and O'entlemen : 



I Jo not propose to-night lo give 30U an elaborate paper on any 

 special point of Natural History, but only to ask your attention for a 

 short time to a brief address on a subject that should, at least, be 

 interesting to all present : That of the Ottawa Field Naturalists' 

 Club present, past and future, what we are doing, what we have done 

 iu the past and what I think we ought to aim at doing in the years to 

 come. If you do not agree with my ideas of the work of the Club, I 

 hope 30U will not scruple to say so, as there will be ample time for the 

 fullest discussion, and on the right settlement of some of the points 

 that I will refer to, the future prosperity and well being of the Club will 

 very materially depend. It is with great pleasure that 1 can 

 congratulate you on the continued and increasing prosperity of the 

 Club. This is shown not only by the largely increased membership; 

 a larger number having joined our ranks during the past season than 

 during any previous year, but by what is of much more consequence 

 the much greater percentage of the members who have taken an active 

 part in the working of the Club. The fact too is particularly notice- 

 able amongst those lately added to our number. A great encouragement 

 to the council has been the sympathy shown in our efforts by those 

 engaged in the impartant profession of teaching. These ladies and 

 gentlemen recognizing the advantages offered from an educational point 

 of view, have, many of them, cast in their lot with us, to the mutual 

 benefit of all concerned. Original work has been vigorously prosecuted 

 by the specialists in all the branches, and greater efforts have been 

 made by the council to gain the interest of outsiders. The usual 

 methods of procedure adopted in past years have been continued up to 

 the present time, and the lectures and classes will be held during the 

 present winter as heretofore. 



