OP NEW SOUTH WALES. 379 



ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. 



MONDAY, 28th JANUARY, 1878. 



W. J. Stephens, Esq., M.A., President, in the Chair. 



The President delivered the following address : — 

 Gentlemen, — When, at the commencement of the year now 

 elapsed, the members of this Society conferred upon me the 

 distinguished honour of election to the chair of President, it was 

 with much diffidence and hesitation that I brought myself to 

 accept such a position among naturalists of far greater specific 

 knowledge than myself. I considered, however, that any 

 member of such a Society as ours, who is unanimously called 

 upon to hold an office, and who feels himself in any degree 

 reasonably competent to discharge its functions, is bound to 

 submit to the will of the electors, and to accept the tasks and 

 responsibilities imposed upon him thereby. I had further the 

 assurance of assistance from more competent members, which 

 aided in lightening for me the painful sense of insufficiency 

 which I could not but entertain. I hoped also to be able to 

 spare from my necessary business more time for the service of 

 the Society than has eventually proved possible. Upon these 

 grounds, and in all humility, I accepted the position in which 

 your kindness placed me. And it now becomes my duty to 

 follow the precedent set by my predecessor, in laying before you 

 a brief abstract of the operations of this and kindred societies 

 in Australia, together with a summary of such works or papers 

 bearing upon the natural history of the country as have been 

 published in Europe, America, or elsewhere. It is not to be 

 expected that such a list should be exhaustive. It is enough 

 that it should give to students, in search of particular infor- 

 mation, a clue which they may follow to the desired source. 



