6 president's address. 



thing that he did for the Society. He had evidently grasped 

 the idea that, at bottom, Ignorance is the millstone round the 

 neck of mankind, that it is primarily ignorance which retards 

 human progress, and that mistakes, though made in ignorance, 

 have to be paid for in some way or another. He had the know- 

 ledge, the leisure, and the resources; and he might huxe chosen 

 the "safe disgrace" of being affluently idle. Instead, he chose 

 to regard these as a trust to be used for the enlightenment of 

 ignorance, and the advancement of knowledge; and so he served. 

 This is his claim upon our unforgetfulness, upon our regard, and 

 upon our co-operation. And we may say of him, as Lowell said 

 of Jeffries Wyman, 



He widened knowledge, and escaped the praise, 

 for this was his twofold aim; and in so far as he was personally 

 concerned, he accomplished it. 



Notwithstanding the abnormal conditions which still prevail, 

 the Society has been able to continue its work in the customary 

 manner as well as circumstances have permitted. The serious 

 effect of the war upon our exchange-relations with Societies in 

 Europe, of course, continues. The total number of exchanges 

 and donations received for the Session 1916-17 amounts to 1243 

 additions to the library (received from 146 Societies, Institutions, 

 etc., and 12 private donors), as compared with 1028 for 1914-15) 

 and 1285 for 1912-13 before the war. The apparent improve- 

 ment on the receipts for 1914-15, however, is merely incidental, 

 for our connnunications with over forty Societies or Institutions, 

 from which, under normal conditions, we are accustomed to hear 

 at least once during the year, remain in a condition of complete 

 suspension. We have lost one lot of despatches for England by 

 the sinking of the s.s. "Arabia," but fortunately a smaller lot 

 than is often sent. 



The concluding Part of the forty-first volume of the Proceed- 

 ings for 1916 (945 pp., and fifty-nine Plates, besides numerous 

 text-figures) is almost ready for issue. It comprises thirty-seven 

 papers, of which eleven were contributed by Linnean Macleay 

 Fellows of the Society, read at the Meetings during the Session. 



