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THE PRESIDENT S ADDRESS. 



patience, self-discipline, and general accuracy wliich the pursuit of 

 any one of its various branches begets is remarkable. The man 

 whose mind is totally deprived of such aids is apt to become 

 dogmatic and narrow in the extreme. His views of Nature are in- 

 adequate, and dwarfed by a thousand prejudices. Popular errors 

 SAvay his mind to and fro after the fashion of an angler's float upon 

 the ruffled stream. Day dreams of the past are to him as present 

 realities. He may even look to the form and visage of the moon to 

 guide him as to probable changes in the weather, and he is entirely 

 unaware how much he remains the child of a diluted superstition. 

 Clearly it is nothing to him, that " the highest meteorological 

 authorities, after a series of minute observations, continued through 

 many years, have come to the conclusion that no influence of any 

 sort can be traced" in this relation. Ignorant of his own igno- 

 rance, he is minded to remain so ; and he fortifies his position by a 

 record of the experiences of his fellow men, who, guided by the 

 same teachings, are necessarily as unenlightened as himself. I am 

 free to confess that it is not pleasant to unveil truths, the enuncia- 

 tion of which implies defects so generally prevalent. Yet, how 

 can those of us who love science for its own sake do otherwise ? It 

 is a disadvantage to the votary of such knowledge that his sense of 

 its value constrains him to invite others to share the intellectual 

 feast ; for you must perceive that the mere assumption of his 

 legitimate position lays him open to the charge of immodesty. Be 

 it so. I am fully sensible of the tendencies of the present hour ; 

 yet I believe that even wealth, without " mental and moral culture," 

 is a poor possession. What painful proofs of the want of scientific 

 culture does " Society," in the so-called upper ranks, afford. To 

 kill time, its members are obliged to saturate themselves with 

 frivolous pursuits. An enlightened daily press even ventures to 

 condemn their craze for tableaux vivants and private corps de ballet 

 competitions with theatrical managers. Far be it from the votaries 

 of science to seek to lessen personal delights and social enjoyments. 

 We contend that whilst science does not lessen life's pleasures, its 

 votaries rarely become the victims of a frothy and unsatisfying 

 ambition. 



Not without strong convictions have I ventured thus to utilise the 

 honoured position which your suffrages have so kindly conferred. 

 If I appear to have exceeded my official liberty, you will lay it dowm 

 to my desire to err rather on the side of zeal than on that of 



