president's address. .°>1 



I trust that I have not wearied you with this brief account of 

 what has been interesting us during these last few years. I 

 hope that the desire to continue to study this problem will not 

 die out, but that other studies may be made which will accom- 

 plish the desire <>f our great benefactor, Sir William Macleay, 

 that the investigation of natural science may be promoted 

 among us. 



In moving the subjoined Resolution, Dr. T. Storie Dixson said 

 that, as a Member of the Society since 1881, as a Member of the 

 Council of long standing who had known Sir William Macleay, 

 as a guest present at the historic gathering on October 3 1 st, 1885, 

 and as a past President, he had had an excellent opportunity of 

 watching the Society's development since its early days, and 

 could speak with knowledge of Mr. Fletcher's services to the 

 Society. At first, and during Sir William's lifetime, all went 

 well. But just about the time that some of the latter's plans 

 were in course of realisation, the commercial crisis of 1892 so 

 seriously affected business matters, that recovery was slow; and 

 the Society's finances suffered in consequence. This, for a con- 

 siderable period, necessitated economy in all possible directions, 

 in order to save reduction in the size of the Society's annual 

 volume of Proceedings. Mr. Fletcher, under these circumstances, 

 did his best to economise in the matter of office and other ex- 

 penses, and put up with less efficient assistance than he had pre- 

 viously had. The Trusts committed to the Society by Sir 

 William Macleay for a Research-bacteriologist, and for Fellow- 

 ships, partly for financial reasons, were not realised quite so 

 simply or so soon as he expected. This involved more responsi- 

 bility for the Council, and more work for the Secretary. Never- 

 theless, by patience, the difficulties were gradually surmounted. 

 But soon after the trusts were in working order, and the value 

 of securities had begun to improve, the war broke out, entailing 

 a substantial increase in the cost of publication, and a corres- 

 ponding discounting of the improvement in the financial outlook. 

 Still, as far as circumstances had permitted, the work of the 

 •Society had been carried on as usual, and with due regard to the 



