Address of tlie President. 19 



stance, the walk along the shore, and its examination, was far 

 more than a day's work. It is most interesting in every point 

 of view. There is more than a day's work in and around 

 Carlinwark Loch alone. There should be a little more divi- 

 sion of labour, and it should be more careful work. 



Tliis time last year I directed y^our attention to one or two 

 subjects on which a great deal had been written, and which 

 were exciting much attention among both high and low, 

 scientific and unscientific persons — such as the Darivinian 

 theories, antiquity of man, authenticity of the Scriptures, etc. ; 

 and the facts, or so-called facts, on which the different 

 opinions expressed regarding them were based. I may say 

 that no great advance has been made during the past year 

 to prove or disprove these asserted theories. At the same 

 time, the subjects are fiiUy maintaining their interest, are 

 taken up by a very varied class of persons, and are being 

 looked upon, 1 think, with a little more serious importance. 



I judge from the numerous works called forth in conse- 

 quence (they are perhaps only exceeded by one other class), 

 and from the general tenor of the speeches and discussions 

 arising at the meetings of our scientific as well as other 

 societies and associations. See the extremely numerous rudi- 

 mentary works on most scientific subjects, as if science was to 

 be made easy at once, and without work ; the numerous con- 

 troversial works — replies to, and defences of, the principal or 

 typical works lately published. Some of those exhibit great 

 carefulness and research and sound reasoning ; others are 

 flimsy in the extreme, and hurt the cause they advocate. 



Look, again, at the periodicals. The literary devote some 

 of their pages, just because the subjects are, I may call it, 

 fashionable. The scientific, which relate to animal or vege- 

 table life and physiology, whether popular or more strictly 

 scientific, are almost filled with papers referring more or less 

 to these subjects. It is the same with the geological and 

 geographical ionTn?i\s and transactions, and one Society's Journal 



