546 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. 



portance to the Society, and though he might say he was himself a 

 militant " anti-suffragist," he entirely agreed with the minority report. 

 Might he ask how many signatures were appended to the report they 

 were asked to accept ? This information was not available, but the 

 Committee was composed of nine persons, of whom three had signed 

 the minority report, and the originator of the movement was absent. 

 It would therefore appear that the Committee was equally divided. 

 He then proceeded to read quotations from what had been put before 

 the Meeting of December 16 by Mr. Scourfield and Mr. Cheshire. He 

 could not agree with Mr. Gordon that it was a matter to be decided by 

 the Council, but thought it was rather one to be settled by the Fellows 

 of the Society. On analysing the post-card ballot the result appeared 

 to be that to 284 cards sent out 205 answers had been received, of which 

 146 assented to the proposal, so that even after eliminating those who 

 had not replied, they still had a majority of the English resident 

 Fellows in favour of admitting ladies, and he considered that to be a 

 sufficient reason for carrying out the proposal. He should like to call 

 attention to one or two observations in the report. It was stated that 

 there was no desire on the part of any ladies to join the Society ; but if 

 that was so, how did it come about that the question had been brought 

 forward ? He thought that the mere fact of the question having been 

 so strongly urged and supported showed that there existed a very strong 

 desire upon the part of lady microscopists to be admitted to the 

 Meetings of the Society. Then they were told that it would be 

 detrimental to the Society financially, owing to the retirement of certain 

 Fellows who objected to the presence of ladies at the Meetings, but he 

 could not think there would be any considerable number of seceders, 

 or that the seceders, if any, would not be more than balanced by the 

 election of new lady Fellows. Mr. Gordon had also told them that they 

 ought not to act in a hurry or upon insufficient consideration, but he 

 observed that it was exactly six months since the question had been 

 raised and the Special Committee appointed, and surely to deal with the 

 matter now, and after a post-card ballot of the Fellows, could not be 

 called being in a hurry. After dealing with some of the questions 

 which had been raised, he then moved as an amendment that the report 

 of the Committee be not received, but the minority report be adopted, 

 and that the by-laws of the Society be altered accordingly. 



Mr. Frederic J. Cheshire, in seconding the amendment proposed by 

 Mr. Heron-Allen, said that he had very little to add to what he had 

 already said on the subject at the December Meeting, and to that to 

 which he had subscribed in the minority report just read. He would, 

 however, point out that the acceptance of the proposal of the Committee 

 to refer the further consideration of the question to the Council was, in 

 effect, and in spite of the assurance of Mr. Gordon, a proposal to burke 

 the question, since he (the speaker) was quite sure that they would get 

 no more unanimity on the Council than there had been at the de- 

 liberations of the Committee whose report had just been read. The 

 further suggestion that the Council should spoon-feed the women Fellows 

 by inviting them from time to time to attend the Ordinary Meetings 

 and hear certain selected papers read, he repudiated with scorn, as being 

 an insult to the Fellows concerned. 



