XU PEOCEEDINGS OF THE 



the time for improvement is passed, and that in my case is fal- 

 sified the adage, " Never too late to mend," 



The period during which I have been in office has been an 

 eventful one ; perhaps I do not exaggerate when, in this respect, I 

 compare it advantageously with any other similar period in the 

 history of the Society ; and it will not, I think, be uninteresting 

 or useless if, in my brief valedictory address, I recur to some of 

 the more remarkable events which have distinguished it, with the 

 view of examining how far we have progressed in the fulfilment of 

 our mission, and what has been the result of our work, either within 

 our own immediate circle, or in the more extended sphere of our 

 influence, or of our external relations. 



One of the earliest changes which occurred in our arrangements 

 was the establishment of the Journal of Proceedings. Many of 

 you will recollect that before this plan was adopted, papers were 

 occasionally read at our meetings which, however valuable they 

 may have been in themselves, neither required the quarto form 

 for their illustration, nor appeared, in other respects, to be adapted 

 for that mode of publication. In addition to this, the accumula- 

 tion of important matter which called for more speedy publication 

 than could be effected by the annual issue of the Transactions, 

 demanded, so to speak, a supplementary channel for its appearance. 

 It was proposed that these requirements should be fulfilled by the 

 octavo form of publication to which I am alluding. The innova- 

 tion was so considerable, and that too in a body so eminently con- 

 servative as ours, that its proposal excited much attention, and 

 was discussed with the freedom, and, at the same time, with the 

 deliberation, which so important a change demanded. The result 

 of much and deep consideration was the adoption of that form, 

 which has ever since been carried out with a degree of regularity, 

 greater, perhaps, than could have been reasonably expected, when 

 it is considered upon how many contingencies its periodical issue 

 depends. The success of the experiment (for such it was at its 

 commencement) has fulfilled the anticipations of its warmest ad- 

 vocates ; and the satisfaction with which it has been received, not 

 only by the Society, but by naturalists who were not of our body, 

 both in England and abroad, has, I doubt not, contributed greatly 

 to raise the character of the Society, to extend its usefulness, and 

 in no small degree to increase our numbers by the accession of 

 many a good working naturalist. 



The most striking event, however, of the period of which I am 



