392 Meeting of British Association. 



deep; he has materially assisted in opening these ice-bound 

 regions to the researches of Science ; he fearlessly aided in the 

 search after Sir John Franklin and his gallant companions, whom 

 their country sent forth on this mission ; but to whom Providence, 

 alas! has denied the reward of their labours, the return to their 

 homes, to the affectionate embrace of their families and friends, 

 and the acknowledgment of a grateful nation. The city of Aber- 

 deen itself is rich in interest for the philosopher. Its two lately- 

 united Universities make it a seat of learning and Science. The 

 collection of antiquities, formed for the present occasion, enables 

 him to dive into olden times, and by contact with the remains of 

 the handiwork of the ancient inhabitants of Scotland, to enter into 

 the spirit of that peculiar and interesting people, which has always 

 attracted the attention and touched the hearts of men accessible 

 to the influence of heroic poetry. The Spalding Club, founded 

 in this city, for the preservation of the historical and literary re- 

 mains of the north-eastern counties i.-f Scotland,, is honourably 

 known by its important publications. 



ORIGIN AND OBJECTS OF THE ASSOCIATION. 



Gentlemen, this is the twenty-ninth anniversary of the founda- 

 tion of this Association ; and< well may we look back with satis^ 

 faction to its operations and achievements throughout the time of its 

 existence. When, on the 27th of September, 1831, the Meeting 

 of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society took place at York, in the 

 theatre of the Yorkshire Museum, under the presidency of the 

 late Earl of Fitzwilliam, then Viscount Milton, and the Rev. W. 

 Vernon Harcourt eloquently set forth the plan for the formation 

 of a British Association for the Promotion of Science, which he 

 showed to have become a want for his country, the most ardent 

 supporter of this resolution could not have anticipated that it 

 would start into life full grown, as it were; enter at once upon its 

 career of usefulness, and pursue it without deviation from the 

 original design, triumphing over the oppositions which it had to 

 encounter, in common with everything that is new and claims to 

 be useful. Gentlemen, this proved that the want was a real, and 

 not an imaginary one, an 1 that the mode in which it was intended 

 to supply that want was based upon a just appreciation of unalter- 

 able truths. Mr. Vernon Harcourt summed up the desiderata in 

 graphic words, which have almost identically been retained as the 

 exposition of the objects of the Society, printed at the head of the 

 annually-appearing volume of its Transactions: — "To give a 



