6 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 



Having sketched the value of the Work of our Society, let me 

 dwell for a few moments on its 



Prospects, 

 and I see every reason for encouragement, and not one for despair. 

 It is too true that we want more members to fill the places of those 

 who have resigned, or who have been lost to us by death. It is 

 also true that in our centres of industry many of our older Scien- 

 tific Societies, in this competitive age, are languishing, if they 

 have not already died out, but as I have before stated this Postal 

 Microscopical Society holds a unique position. She is a fairy 

 visitor to our homes. We never want to go abroad to find her. 

 She interests our wives and children, and under our own lamp- 

 shade and by our own fireside we can pursue our microscopical 

 studies. Wonderfully convenient as well as valuable. For this 

 reason we ought to be able to increase our membership year after 

 year, and with good slides, full notes, and copious drawings, suc- 

 cess will be assured. While we use every effort to retain our 

 members who are in the midst of city and town life with all its 

 advantages, we ought to make a special effort to secure new mem- 

 bers from our rural districts, where men and women are engaged 

 in microscopical pursuits under many disadvantages. May I ven- 

 ture to hint that a short but a striking occasional advertisement in 

 one or more of our popular scientific and technical journals would 

 be desirable ? I do not now see the weekly English Mechanic, but 

 a few years ago its pages were often enriched by excellent micro- 

 scopical chapters, proving that a large portion of its readers must 

 have been interested in Microscopy. If they are still continued, 

 would not an occasional advertisement of our Society bring us 

 some new working members ? 



Would it not be possible to circulate boxes with notes, at occa- 

 sional intervals, confined to the subjects of dry, balsam, and fluid 

 mounting of slides ? How to prepare vegetable and animal tissues, 

 so as to procure a better knowledge of histology. We might take 

 advantage of the rapid progress of Technical Education. The 

 classes now in full operation, under the management of our County 

 Councils, will undoubtedly cultivate all branches of Science, and 

 Microscopy will have its share of attractions among the artizans 

 and middle classes of our land. My own experience is, that for 



