262 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



was experienced also by the attendance of ladies in 

 some of the sectional rooms, this is indeed contrary 

 to the laws and rules of the society, and very few of 

 the Scottish ladies infringed the rule ; but either the 

 ardour of the Irish ladies, or the greater gallantry of 

 the Irish chairman in the sectional rooms, occasioned 

 the Geological theatre to be half filled with ladies. 

 And in some other sections great inconvenience was 

 experienced by the difficulty lecturers and debaters 

 laboured under in treating their subjects, being 

 obliged to abstain from statements and allusions^ 

 which to females would appear to be indelicate, this 

 is however perfectly absurd when investigating a 

 scientific subject. The British Association have, I 

 think, laid themselves open to animadversion m this 

 respect, and, if this intrusion be not checked, it will, 

 I fear, be subsequently attended with disadvantage 

 to the society. 



I would now gladly read the whole of Professor 

 Hamilton's report of the state and progress of the 

 society, which is annually prepared, and read by 

 one of the secretaries, at the first public meeting. 

 But as this also is contained in the " Athenaeum" 

 paper, I must content myself with a reference to its 

 pages ; and one short quotation from it, containing 

 as it does, a summary of the advantages resulting 

 from such an association, n^any of which I have ad- 

 verted to, but which are here comprised in a com- 

 prehensive form. 



" What other societies do upon a small scale, this 

 ^* does upon a large ; what others do for London, 

 " or Edinburgh, or Dublin, this does for the whole 

 "triple realm of England, Scotland, and Ireland; 

 "its gigantic arms stretch even to America and 

 " India, insomuch that it is commensurate with the 

 "magnitude and the majesty of the British Empire, 

 " on which the Sun never sets : but it is not merely 

 " in its magnitude and universality, and consequently 

 "higher power of stimulating intellect through sym- 

 " pathy, that this Association diflers from others. 



