LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. 1 7 



PEESIDENTIAL ADDEESS, 1904. 



I BEGIN my Address to-day, as has been my custom on previous 

 Anniversaries, with a brief account of the events of the past year 

 and of the position and prospects of the Society. The longer I 

 have occupied the Presidential Chair, the more impressed have I 

 become with the desirability of placing the fullest information of 

 this kind at the disposal of the Fellows, not only for the purposes 

 of this Meeting, hut also for subsequent reference in the Proceed- 

 ings. It is not necessary for me to insist how important it is 

 that every Fellow should have brought to his notice at frequent 

 intervals what have been the successes and the disappointments of 

 the Society, and what are its aims, its aspirations, its hopes, and 

 its fears : in a word, that every Fellow should be kept as closely 

 as possible in touch with the oi'ganic life of this our body. But 

 so strong is my conviction of the importance of this matter, that 

 I ventiu'e on this occasion — the last Anniversary Meeting at which 

 I shall have the privilege of addressing you — to make a practical 

 suggestion to ensure its permanent realisation. My suggestion is 

 this — that we should adopt the practice of the Eoyal Society, and 

 of, I believe, some other learned Societies, in desiring the Council 

 to present an annual report upon the state of the Society's affairs. 

 In this way information that can now only be obtained, if at all, by 

 the searching of minute-books, would be made readily accessible ; 

 and, moreover, the series of annual reports would, in the course of 

 time, form an important contribution to the history of the Society. 

 In my present position I can see one weighty objection to the 

 proposal, namely this, that were it carried out it would deprive 

 the President in future of a good deal of material that might be 

 useful for the purposes of his Anniversary Address. But it may 

 be urged, as a compensating advantage, that it would leave the 

 President free to devote the whole of his Address to purely 

 scientific matters. 



I began my Address last year with an allusion to the probability 

 that that Anniversary would be the last meeting of the kind " for 

 men only " ; and I ventured to anticipate that it would fall to my 

 lot to admit the first Lady-Fellow. At the same time I was 

 cautious enough to hint that the process of obtaining a Supple- 

 mental Charter would require time and patience. Owing to the 

 realisation of the last of these three anticipations, the two others 

 remain unfulfilled ; so the Fellows are meeting to-day as of 

 yore, and my term of office is not to be rendered memorable by 

 the gracious event to which I have alluded. However I am to-day 

 in a position to announce that the Supplemental Charter has at 

 last been granted. I cannot make this gratifying announcement 

 without adding that the Society is deeply indebted for the successful 

 conduct of this business to the Treasurer, who has borne single- 

 handed the not inconsiderable labour and, with characteristic 



LINN. SOC. PEOCEEDINGS, — SESSION 1903-1904. C 



