66 The President's Address. 



on the same subject, a diversity of illustrations has been 

 one of the reasons by which they have been guided. The 

 forced sale of works published by M. Bailliere, consequent 

 upon the decease of that gentleman, enabled many purchases 

 of volumes abounding in microscojjical illustrations to be 

 made at unusually low prices; and the Committee have 

 availed themselves of other opportunities of obtaining pub- 

 lications on the most economical terms. Your Committee 

 have felt it their duty to avoid the piu'chase of any works of 

 unusual costliness, although there are many publications of 

 this class which it would be very desirable to place in the 

 Society's Library whenever it may be prudent to make such 

 an application of the necessary funds. The orders given by 

 the Committee are nearly completed. Up to the present they 

 have purchased of Mr. Wheldon to the extent of rather more 

 than £60 ; of Messrs. Nock, to the extent of £10 8s. ; and of 

 Mr. Quaritch, £2 5s. 



" A notice of the opening of the Library has been sent by 

 post to each Fellow, accompanied by a request for donations 

 of books, or of money for their purchase. The minutes of 

 the proceedings of the Society will show that some valuable 

 additions to the Library have been recently obtained through 

 the liberality of various donors. Your Committee believe 

 that so excellent an example will be extensively followed, as 

 the wants of the Society become known. 



" The Library Committee hope that the financial arrange- 

 ments of the Society will permit the continued expenditure, 

 from time to time, of moderate sums in the purchase of most 

 important works relating to microscopical science, or of older 

 works of established reputation, whenever they can be advan- 

 tageously obtained. 



" While the Library remains so small that the number of 

 works likely to be in request amounts to only a small fraction 

 of the number of Fellows of the Society, the Committee do 

 not see their Avay to recommend a resumption of the plan of 

 lending books ; but they hope that, by donation and pur- 

 chase, the Society may, ere long, be in possession of suffi- 

 cient duplicates to permit an issue of works without destroy- 

 ing what they believe will constitute its chief value, namely, 

 its offering at all times, to Fellows who think proper to visit 

 it, the means of reference and research." 



Yet some arrangements, I think, must be made to meet 

 the special wants of hard-working Fellows residing at a dis- 

 tance from London. I am not prepared to say yet what 

 those arrangements should be. Perhaps the best plan at 

 present is to leave the applicatiQn for books from anv Fellow 



