32 THE president's address. 



effort or the observation, if it be honestly recorded, it is of vakie, 

 although the conclusion arrived at may be inaccurate, for it is 

 nevertheless on the road to truth. We often by " indirections 

 find directions out." But in all inquiries let us avoid dogmatism. 

 Sitting in cathedrd may be very agreeable to our self-love, but 

 there is the constant danger of being tumbled from our stool. 

 Nevertheless, it is well to be firm in our convictions, should they 

 have been diligently arrived at ; yet to be ready to give them 

 up when found to be untenable, for this is the true philosophy 

 of science. It is here that lies the advantage of constant 

 association with those studying in like directions, tending, as it 

 does, to that beneficial condition of the mind. Thus it is, that 

 the practice of exhibiting a series of objects illustrative of a 

 special class of organisms is greatly to be commended, as well 

 as drawmgs executed under the microscope, as it assists more 

 than any other way the general knowledge of natural history. 

 Time was, when books were few, as well as those capable of 

 reading them, that pictures were resorted to as teachers; and 

 the people's book, or, as it was called, " The Book of the Ignorant," 

 was written in art, making appeals to the senses, and thus to 

 reach the mind. Nor have we set aside, in our progress, this 

 ready means of teaching ; for art, now combining with optical 

 science, is more called upon than ever, as no description can 

 come up to actual representation. In the work of the micro- 

 scope, therefore, it is most essential to have such record. It is 

 here also especially necessary to study the interpretation of the 

 magnification by high powers, lest the eye should be deceived in 

 the character of that presented before it — a subject that has been 

 well considered by members of the Quekett Club. 



In all matters of scientific inquiiy, there is an especial pleasure 

 in taking up a subject at its beginning and working it out to a 

 result. It leads us on often into " fresh fields and pastures new." 

 When we commence, it is probably only to verify or convince 

 ourselves on previous observations, and we may be rewarded in 

 discovering more than we expected. This has been my personal 

 experience on more than one occasion, and it must be of frequent 

 occurrence in microscopical study. For the field of nature is bound- 

 less, and we may often find w^hat we have called " common 

 objects " appear in a new light by our extended vision. 



These remarks have suggested themselves to me on my recollec- 



